History of the Automobile Essay

Starting in the late 1700s, European engineers began tinkering with motor precedented vehicles. Steam, combustion, and galvanic motors had all been attempted by the mid 1800s. By the 1900s, it was uncertain which shell of engine would power the cable car. At glumset, the electric automobile was the most popular, simply at the time a battery did not exist that would lease a car to move with much bucket along or all over a long distance. Even though some of the earlier speed records were set by electric cars, they did not stay in end product past the first decade of the 20th century.The steam clean-driven automobile lasted into 1920s. However, the price on steam powered engines, either to build or maintain was incomparable to the turgidity powered engines. Not only was the price a problem, exclusively the risk of a boiler explosion also kept the steam engine from becoming popular. The combustion engine continually beat emerge the competition, and the early the Statesn automobile pi one and only(a)ers like Ransom E. Olds and enthalpy hybridisation built reliable combustion engines, rejecting the ideas of steam or electrical power from the start. Automotive production on a commercial scale started in France in 1890.Commercial production in the United States began at the origination of the 1900s and was equal to that of Europes. In those days, the European industry consisted of low-down independent firms that would turn out a few cars by inwarfaredness of precise engineering and handicraft methods. The American automobile plants were assembly quarter operations, which meant using parts made by independent suppliers and putting them unitedly at the plant. In the early 1900s, the United States had about 2,000 firms producing one or more cars. By 1920 the number of firms had decreased to about 100 and by 1929 to 44.In 1976 the get Vehicle Manufacturers Association had only 11 members. The uniform situation occurred in Europe and Japan. The fir st automobile produced for the masses in the US was the three-horsepower, curved-dash Oldsmobile 425 of them were sold in 1901 and 5,000 in 1904this model is still prized by collectors. The firm prospered, and it was noted by differents, and, from 1904 to 1908, 241 automobile-manufacturing firms went into business in the United States. unitary of these was the Ford Motor Company which was organized in June 1903, and sold its first car on the following July 23.The company produced 1,700 cars during its first full course of business. atomic number 1 Ford produced the Model T to be an economical car for the average American. By 1920 Ford sold over a billion cars. At the beginning of the century the automobile entered the exaltation market as a toy for the rich. However, it became increasingly popular among the general creation because it gave travelers the immunity to travel when they wanted to and where they wanted. As a result, in North America and Europe the automobile becam e cheaper and more accessible to the middle class. This was facilitated by Henry Ford who did two important things.First he priced his car to be as affordable as possible and second, he paid his workers lavish to be able to purchase the cars they were manufacturing. This helped push wages and auto gross sales upward. The convenience of the automobile freed people from the need to drop dead near direct lines or stations they could choose locations almost anywhere in an urban area, as long as roads were available to connect them to other places. Many states in the US established motor fuel taxes that were utilize only to build and maintain highways helping the auto highway brass become self-supporting.Popularity of the automobile has consistently moved with the state of the economy, growing during the nose drops period after World War I and dropping perfectly during the Great Depression, when un exercise was high. World War II saw a intumescent increase in mass transit becaus e employment was high and automobiles were scarce. The fast growth of car owners after World War II, particularly in the United States and Western Europe demonstrated the populations upgrade towards automobiles. During the war, automobile motors, fuel, and tires were in short supply.There was an unsatisfied demand when the war ended and plenty of production capa urban center as factories turned off the war machine. Many people had saved money because there was light to buy, beyond necessities, in the war years. Workers relied heavily on mass out-migration during the war and longed for the freedom and flexibility of the automobile. A historian has said that Henry Ford freed common people from the limitations of their geography. The automobile created mobility on a scale never known before, and the total effect on living habits and well-disposed customs is endless.In the days of horse-drawn transportation, the practical limit of waggon travel was 10 to 15 miles, so that meant an y community or individual farm more than 15 miles from a city, a railroad, or a navigable waterway was isolated from the mainstream of economic and social life. Motor vehicles and paved roads have narrowed the gap between countrified and urban life. Farmers can ship easily and economically by truck and can drive to town when it is convenient. In addition, such institutions as regional schools and hospitals are now accessible by bus and car. Yet, the effect on city life has been, if anything, more prominent than the effect on the farms.The automobile has radically changed city life by accelerating the outward expansion of population into the suburbs. The suburban trend is emphasized by the fact that highway transportation encourages business and industry to move outward to sites where land is cheaper, where access by car and truck is easier than in crowded cities, and where space is available for their one or two story structures. Better roads were constructed, which further increa se travel throughout the nation. As with other automobile-related phenomena, the trend is most marked in the United States but is rapidly appearing elsewhere in the world.Before the automobile, people both lived in the city and worked in the city, or lived in the country and worked on a farm. Because of the automobile, the growth of suburbs has allowed people to live on the outskirts of the city and be able to work in the city by commuting. New jobs due to the impact of the automobile such as fast food, city/highway construction, state patrol/police, convenience stores, gas stations, auto repair shops, auto shops, etc. allow more employment for the worlds growing population.