The Evolution of the Automobile Industry and Its Path to Sustainability

History of The Automobile Industry

Road transportation is undoubtedly the bedrock for all the other forms of transport. This form of transportation has become a cornerstone of society, with a significant number of people using it daily. Be it personal cars or public transportation, the purpose of road transport has always been about keeping people and freight moving.

This leads us to one fundamental question: how did we arrive at the gasoline engines of vehicles today? Well, the early origins of transportation on the road can be traced to the invention of the spoked wheel in 2000 BC in Asia. The next step in this revolution is the development of the wagon, a four-wheeled vehicle incorporating the spoked wheel and axles in the 1st century BC.

However, the vehicle is just the tip of the iceberg. One critically overlooked aspect of road transportation is the infrastructure that allows our cars to move. Just like how rails are needed to get our trains moving, roads are key to the efficiency of our cars, buses, lorries etc. Even before the invention of the wagon, ridgeways(roads going over mountains or to avoid rivers) were built around 5000 BC for sleds to traverse terrain. One very notable example is The Ridgeway is an ancient track described as Britain’s oldest road. Street paving then became prevalent during 4000 BC in the Indus Valley Civilisation on the Indian subcontinent, such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Throughout the evolution of humanity, various civilisations have made breakthroughs in transportation on the road. For instance, the Romans used crushed stone to ensure their streets wouldn’t become muddy, and roads were paved with tar in Baghdad, Iraq in the 8th century. 

The early years then saw wagons become very ubiquitous across the world while scientists continued to push the envelope of innovation. Many attempts at creating an automobile could be seen. Namely, in 1680, Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens designed(but never built) an internal combustion engine that ran on gunpowder. Another example was Francois Isaac de Rivaz of Switzerland invented an internal combustion engine that used a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen for fuel in 1807. Rivaz designed a car for his engine but was ultimately unsuccessful. Fortunately, in the late 1800s, years of research and learning from predecessors led to the successful creation of the automobile. This groundbreaking discovery could be attributed to the efforts of Gottlieb Daimler, Karl Benz, Nicolaus Otto, and Emile Levassor(a group of German Engineers). In particular, Benz is credited for creating the first gas-powered car with an internal combustion engine(an engine that uses the explosive combustion of fuel to push a piston within a cylinder) in 1885. Automobiles then took center stage when Henry Ford established the Ford Motor Company: an American car manufacturer that was able to scale production at an unprecedented pace. This later became the blueprint for other companies such as GM and Chrysler.

Given the vast history of road transportation, what is next for this industry?  The answer lies in the wonders of technology. E-hailing rides, car sharing schemes, electric scooters, autonomous buses, and most notably Electric Vehicles(EVs) are the future of this industry. EVs have already been rising in popularity over the years. Although data around the beginning of the 20th century showed that only 38% of American automobiles were powered by electricity, electric vehicles were rising in popularity due to the low maintenance required, lack of noise, and instant self-start feature. This transition to EVs is also accelerating rapidly. The sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned by 2030 in the UK, with £1.3bn ($1.5bn) UK government funding to support smart charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.  New York has also announced that sales of nearly all gas- and diesel-powered cars and trucks in the state will be banned by 2035. The state says it will be spending about $1bn (£0.8bn) across all types of zero-emissions vehicles over the next 5 years. Sustainability plays a massive role in transportation on the road, as society is continuously working to advance this mode of transportation without significant environmental ramifications.

History of Sustainability in The Automobile Industry

Continuing to push the envelope and strive towards a sustainable future on the road is of paramount importance, with the knowledge that road transport takes up 18% of global CO2 emissions. We, as a global society, have also seen the ramifications of using unsustainable energy sources. When you think of air pollution, most people will think of the engines of our automobiles burning petrol, which unfortunately produces greenhouse gases that will harm our environment. Unbeknownst to many, though, is the environmental impact a vehicle makes before its wheels hit the road. Fossil fuels are burnt to harness the energy needed to build the materials that form up our automobiles: steel, glass, paints, etc. Moreover, besides the energy required to convert petroleum in the engine of the car, extracting it from the Earth is a costly and environmentally damaging process. There is a need to transition towards cleaner energy in the world of road transportation. In the meantime, there needs to be stricter protocols in this industry.

Let’s take a look at the short-term measures to curb the negative impacts of transportation on the road without sacrificing interconnectedness in society. One particular method is incentivising the use of public transport around the world by creating a robust public transport system. By improving the quality of public transport in cities and scaling it to serve more commuters, it becomes a more viable alternative for commuters, and the opportunity cost of using public transport decreases. For instance, Jakarta became the 1st Southeast Asian city to win the Sustainable Transport Award in October 2020 for its integrated Public Transport System, Transjakarta. Its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system has dedicated bus lanes and connects to smaller bus networks throughout the city, and it serves over 1 million people daily. 

Another often overlooked benefit of a sound public transport system is that it can improve road quality, which in turn can reduce pollution in unexpected ways. Beginning with the obvious, poorly maintained roads force vehicles to consume more fuel and thus produce more emissions. Next, what some people may overlook is that rainwater can seep into poorly maintained roads and pick up toxic substances such as oil, rubber, and other pollutants. These substances will then flow into water sources, leading to contamination and threatening aquatic ecosystems. Improving a city’s public transportation system is another way to reduce our environmental impact.

Despite these efforts, we still have a ways to go when it comes to public transport as a global society. The 2020 UN Sustainable Development Goals Report states that only half of the world’s urban population has convenient access to public transport. Thus, another measure governments have considered to reduce emission levels due to road transportation is simply controlling the number of vehicles on the road. If we look more locally, Singapore has put into place quotas, also known as Certificates of Entitlement(COEs), to control the number of vehicles on the road. Fewer vehicles on the road means the quantity of carbon emissions decreases. 

However, with rapid population growth, there is only so much public transport and regulation can do to manage the growing demand for vehicles. We as a society need to continue innovating to walk the tricky tightrope between efficiency and sustainability. According to Lukas Neckermann(a transportation author and speaker), the future of the automobile industry is defined by three zeros: zero accidents, zero emissions, and zero ownership. One particular invention that is already taking the world stage is the shift towards EVs. As electric cars become more affordable and more efficient, we expect to see an increasing number of people choosing to drive electric vehicles. In addition, the development of new battery technologies will allow for longer ranges and faster charging times, making electric cars even more practical for daily use. With EVs becoming more appealing as an alternative, humanity can transition to cleaner and sustainable energy without giving up the efficiency of the modern-day automobile. Even beyond just cars, electric bikes and scooters are becoming more prevalent and thus offer a convenient and friendly way to get around.

In summary, both legislation and R&D play pivotal roles in moving society towards sustainable road transport, without forgetting the initial purpose of road transportation: keeping goods and people moving. The future of road transportation looks both green and bright, with experts looking at flying cars or hyperloops being implemented into society eventually.