Global Team Assignment (gta)
History of Automotive Industry and the evolution of clean vehicles (325)
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- Environment Changes, Challenges and Opportunities (328)
History of Automotive Industry and the evolution of clean vehicles (325) Although Germany and France held the blueprints for the modern automobile in the late 1800s, Americans dominated the industry in the first half of the twentieth century because of mass production techniques created by Henry Ford and the production line[His01].
The petrol powered Ford Model T was the car benefited by economy of scale advantages of mass production lines, making automobiles much more accessible and popular. Other innovations introduced to post-World War II models like the electric self-starter, the closed all-steel body, the high-compression engine, hydraulic brakes, synchromesh transmission, and low-pressure balloon tires, as well the availability of cheap petrol made of petrol-powered cars easier for more people to drive [His01]. The OPEC oil embargo on the 70’s escalated the gasoline prices and contributed to draw more interest in improvements and alternatives to the predominant internal combustion engines. First with Germans and after with the Japanese, the automakers focused on fuel-efficient, functionally designed, well-built small cars. Electric vehicles also became a more viable and interesting option [His01]. “The history of electric mobility is a demonstration of the world’s persistent ingenuity and adaptation in transportation” [Cur]. It starts very early on the automotive industry history, with the first four-wheeled electric car built in 1888, and becoming the top selling road vehicle in the United States on 1900. However, innovations on production line, fuel-efficient and the lower price to operate and manufacture of gasoline driven cars made electric vehicles become all but extinct due market competition [And10]. It was not until the OPEC oil embargo on the 70’s when the high price oil prices renewed interested in electric vehicles. The escalate of pollution concerns on the 80 and 90’s made the low emission agenda part of many global environmental legislation around the world, also contributing to developing the EV market. Governments increased incentives to the development of electric technologies and on tax credit to consumers look at the industry as a more viable option [Hyb11]. Environment Changes, Challenges and Opportunities (328)According to the World Health Organization, air pollution is a serious challenge that has taken more than seven million lives around the world just in 2012. The policy of industrializing first and cleaning up later is an aggravating factor, mainly in faster developing countries such as India and China. The estimation of the China’s former health minister is that 350,000 to 500,000 people die prematurely because of air pollution each year. In addition, only three of the 74 most important Chinese cities met the national health air standard in 2013. The factoring in the human and economic costs of millions of pollution-related illnesses and deaths requires growth strategies targeting the long term and in a more comprehensive manner[NYT14]. 
Figure 5 - Total U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Economic Sector in 2012 Transportation emissions accounts for a considerable part of the problem. In developed countries like in the United States, the population growth, urban sprawl, and low fuel prices contributed to a 35% increase in travel in the last decade. Just in the U.S., the transportation emissions have increased about 18% since 1990, with the emissions from vehicles representing roughly 28% of its total greenhouse gas emissions. The poor fuel efficiency in its vehicle market is a great opportunity of change for mitigating the problem [EPA14]. Hybrids and electric cars are a promising opportunity for tackling the problem. However, geographic, economic and political factors make this market more attractive in some countries than on others. In the U.S., the cheapest price of petro-powered vehicles and the huge availability of natural resources make the market to focus more on fuel efficiency to solve the problem rather than on green economy. In countries with huge population and lack of natural resources as China, electric carmakers see it as the market of the future, mainly because of a strong government investment and incentives [The134]. Figure 6 - Ex-factory value of EVs, in 2024, by application sector (IDTechEx) The future of electric power is not found only in vehicles for personal or public transportation, the future holds tremendous opportunities for the following vehicle types as well: heavy industrial buses, lighting industrial/commercial, micro EV/quadricycle, mobility for the disabled, military and marine [DrP14]. 
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