Many countries affirm that they are the first country to manufacture gasoline-powered cars. Although there is still controversy about this, more than a century ago. German Karl Benz made a motor tricycle in 1886 (see Figure 1), which is more in line with modern cars. The car uses a four-stroke single-cylinder horizontally arranged water-cooled gasoline engine. Karl Benz developed a frame behind the seat based on the popular three-wheeled motor at the time.Through it, the displacement is 984mL, 0.9 horsepower (1 horsepower = The 0.735kW) gasoline engine is placed on the rear axle and uses belt and chain transmission to drive the rear wheels. The maximum speed is 15km/h. At the same time, this car is the first car equipped with a differential. In addition, vehicle steering is achieved by using a joystick connected to the rack and pinion to control the rotation of the single front wheel (see Figure 2).
When it comes to the automobile industry, one cannot fail to mention Henry Ford, the founder of the American Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford was born on a farm near Dearborn in 1863. Henry Ford completed his first 4-wheel car in the shed of his Detroit home in 1896 and successfully tested it late at night.
The Ford Motor Company was formally established in 1903 and sold the first car of the Ford Motor Company, the Model A. In 1908, Ford launched the Model T, as shown in Figure 3. This is a model that Volkswagen can afford. Mass production started at the earliest. The revolution of the world automobile industry began.
The T-type car uses an inline four-cylinder water-cooled gasoline engine with a displacement of 2896mL and a power of 20 horsepower at 1600r/min. It has two forward gears and one reverse gear. The planetary transmission system used is connected to the engine as a whole The structure (see Figure 4). It is a patent of Ford. Figure 5 shows the T-car chassis without body.
In 1913, the Ford Motor Company developed the world’s first automobile assembly line (see Figure 6). According to statistics, in the Ford Motor Manufacturing Plant. Immigrant workers come from all over the world. There are more than 30 languages spoken. Communication and collaboration. However, this pioneering move coupled with the adoption of parts interchangeability technology, under the arrangement of managers and engineers, made it possible to produce cars in large quantities and at low cost, and created considerable profits. On January 5, 1914, Ford announced that it would pay workers a wage of $5 for 8 hours, which was twice the wage of the 9-hour work system at the time, which changed the lives of American workers tremendously. By 1915, the one millionth Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line.
In 1927, Henry Ford and Edsel Ford took the 15 millionth Model T off the assembly line, officially ending the production of the Model T. The total global production of Model T cars is 15,458,781. The advent of Model T cars and mass production of assembly lines have caused the price of cars to plummet. By 1918, Ford Motor Company’s automobile production accounted for half of American automobile production, and the price of a Ford Model T was reduced to US$260 per unit. The factory’s workers could afford it for two months’ wages. The car has changed from a plaything of the rich to a personal means of transportation that the public can also enjoy. The mass production and popularization of automobiles have triggered changes in social production and lifestyles, and created countless employment opportunities. The automobile industry is also related to the steel industry, machine tool industry in the machinery industry, synthetic material industry, tire manufacturing, urban construction, highway engineering, petrochemicals, high-tech applications, finance, insurance, and service industries. The scale of this industrial cluster , Equivalent to 2.5-3 times of the auto industry itself. The development of the automobile industry has greatly promoted the development of social economy. In less than 100 years, cars have become an indispensable part of people’s lives. They have virtually shortened the space and time distance of the whole society, expanded people’s living territories, and speeded up people’s pace of life.
For more than one hundred years, the structure of automobiles has been continuously improved, their performance has been continuously improved, and the number of vehicles has been continuously increased. It is estimated that global oil consumption will triple in the next 25 to 35 years. The increase in demand will exacerbate a problem that we are very familiar with today, that is, relying on a single energy source that is unevenly distributed in the world will cause energy security and national security issues. In addition, the increase in the number of cars will inevitably bring about a series of worldwide problems such as traffic congestion, road congestion, air pollution, and energy shortage.