Photo by Tom Raftery
We are currently in the midst of a motoring revolution, with rising fuel prices forcing car manufacturers to focus on ‘greener’ vehicles. Over the course of the past twelve months every major industry player has talked about work they are completing on such projects. Japanese manufacturers Nissan and Mitsubishi stole a march on the opposition by becoming the first to companies to mass produce all electric vehicles; but other major players like Renault and General Motors will be making their own version available in the near future.
This would not be happening if there was not consumer demand for such vehicles. Indeed, a survey conducted by MoneySupermarket.com revealed that 65% of motorists will look at buying a more fuel efficient vehicle the next time they are on the look out for a new motor.
However, change is nothing new in the motoring world; and this is just another in a long line of ‘revolutions’ that has changed the face of the common motor car. We therefore take a look at some of the vehicles that changed the face of motoring forever:
The simple toy
In approximately 1678 Ferdinand Verbiest, a catholic priest who was a member of the Jesuit Mission in China built a toy for the Chinese Emperor Chien Lung. Verbiest imaginatively designed a horseless cart which was powered by a steam engine.
Although not big enough to fit a person in; this was the first recorded instance of man kind coming up with mobile contraptions which were not propelled mechanically. Remarkably Thomas Newcomen didn’t build the first steam engine big enough to propel a fully sized vehicle until 1712.
Cugnot and Brezin
Photo by Maxx +
However, it wasn’t until 1769 that the first vehicle to move under its own power was produced. Designed by Nicholas Joseph Cugnot and constructed by M. Brezin, the vehicle weighed 8,000 pounds and was limited to a top speed of just 2 mph.
Also powered by a steam engine, the vehicle was designed with the intention of transporting canons around Paris.
Gustave Trouve
Steam vehicles proved to be too big and cumbersome to be practical. Engineers therefore started to experiment with alternative means of propulsion.
French electric engineer Gustave Trouve therefore set about designing three-wheeled vehicle that would be powered by electricity. Trouve showcased the concept at the International Exhibition of Electricity in Paris in 1881, proving its functionality.
Benz & Cie
Photo by BastiaanImages
The 1880’s were really a time of innovation, and in 1885 Karl Benz created his Benz Motorwagen which was the world’s first gasoline fuelled vehicle; setting the standard for automotive design which was be in place until the modern day.
The initial three wheeled design was difficult to control and unable to propel itself up a hill unaided. After much testing, the third and definitive version of the model which was put on show in the Paris Expo in 1887 was the model which Benz produced commercially with the flaws of the original design having been rectified.
One of the major limitations which remained with this design was that gasoline fuel had to be bought (rather expensively) from pharmacists. Bertha Benz (wife of Karl) set about alleviating the concerns of critics by setting out on a long distance journey on the 5th August 1888 from Mannheim to Pforzheim to visit her mother. This 66 mile trip involved many stops at pharmacists along the way but proved that the concept was not flawed. Little did people know at the time that Benz’s design would go on to set the standard which would remain until the modern day.
Ford Model-T
Photo by by dave_7
With gasoline filling stations starting to become more widely placed around developed areas, the only issue which was preventing cars becoming available to the masses was the initial purchase price of the models.
Henry Ford saw this as an opportunity to differentiate his company and employed assembly line production techniques to lower the cost of producing his automotive contraption in 1908.
Hailed as the first car to be affordable to the masses, the Model T was a massive hit both in America and over the rest of the world and is commonly named the most influential car of the 20th century. This was all thanks to Ford’s production techniques which made it commercially viable to sell at just $850; over two and a half times cheaper than any other automotive alternative at the time.
Mini Cooper
Photo by kenjonbro
The Mini was initially designed as a response to the fuel crisis of 1956 when petrol was rationed in the UK as a result the Suez Crisis. This saw the sales of larger and less fuel friendly vehicles slump. BMC chairman Leonard Lord therefore order the design of a miniature vehicle which was be more fuel friendly than the other vehicles in their fleet and more attractive to consumers than the burdening German bubble cars.
What differentiated the Mini from other models before it was the internal layout with a transversely mounted front wheel drive concept which required far less space than previously employed designs; allowing for a more compact product. This lay the foundations for the design of all cars which have been designed subsequently.
Toyota Prius
Photo by Wikimedia Commons
It’s easy to mock the Toyota Prius now that it has become a vehicle which is utilised by celebrities to hollowly boost their green credentials. However, when it was first launched in 1996 the hybrid Prius was actually a remarkable break through; consuming just 65mpg of fuel on average which was far greater than anything else on the road at the time.
However, it’s high pricing ensured that it was not commonly available to the masses but actually designed appeal to the environmentally concerned rather than those who were struggling to keep up with rising fuel prices.
Rather than continuing to improve the efficiency of the model over the subsequent years, Toyota has rather disappointingly decided to exploit the brand equity of the model to bring in customers. However, this doesn’t take away from Toyota’s initial achievement; giving birth to the increasingly popular hybrid car market.
Nissan Leaf
Photo by Tom Raftery
Hybrid’s can only ever really be an intermediate option as raw oil supplies dwindle. The race is now on to come up with viable alternatives to replace the designs which rely on fossil fuels.
Nissan won the race to become the first manufacturer to mass produce an alternative design when it released its all electric Nissan Leaf model last year. With a top speed of 92mph and a range of 100 miles between charges, the Leaf is the first viable electric vehicle to hit the roads. It is estimated that it will save the average motorist over £1,600 per year in fuel costs alone, before tax and insurance discounts are factored in. These impressive statistics resulted in it winning the European car of the year award in 2010.
However, the Leaf is handicapped by the initial selling price of £25,990 which somewhat renders the running cost savings rather negligible. There is also the problem of the insufficient recharging station infrastructure around the country, which makes journeys of more than 50 miles away from home almost impossible for the vast majority.
Nevertheless, it should be remembered that a lack of refuelling stations was also identified as a handicap when Karl Benz’s pioneering Motorwagen was released in 1887. The only question remaining is whether or not hydrogen fuelled vehicles (current being advocated by both Honda and BMW) will prove to be more popular than electric alternatives in the future which also proved to be the second best choice in the late 1800s following the launch of Benz’s gasoline design.
