The world in general has changed dramatically over the last decade, and at least in the case of automotive technology, that change has been incredibly positive. Technologies that would have seemed like pure fantasy two decades ago are now commonplace in the propulsion, safety, and connectivity systems of everyday cars you see on the street.
Engines operate close to their maximum possible thermodynamic efficiency while producing more power than ever before, while practical electric family cars manage to outperform even the most powerful internal combustion-powered supercars.
Vehicles can avoid accidents and save lives off their own accord, with widespread pedestrian detection and automatic braking systems. Vehicles with internal wi-fi hotspots are commonplace now, and allow their occupants to connect to the wider world whenever they want, almost anywhere they want. Things have come quite a long way in a very short time.
Propulsion
The most exciting developments surrounding automotive technology have been in what moves cars themselves. In the last decade we have seen the beginning of what is almost certainly a new epoch in the automotive industry and automotive history. The internal combustion engine is not maxed out yet, not completely, but the future is quite clearly electric. Tighter emissions regulations and the constant expectation for more horsepower have given rise to direct fuel injection systems paired with continuous valve control, which are now commonplace across the industry. These technologies allow engines to take maximum advantage of every microdrop of gasoline while at the same time becoming simpler mechanically.
Continuous valve control is a further development of variable valve timing, which offers much greater flexibility and control over when and how long the valves open for intake air and exhaust gases. While not necessarily offering big improvements in peak performance, these systems allow a single engine to optimize its operation for every environment and every demand. Power and fuel economy are both enhanced dramatically because the engine can effectively retune itself instantaneously. Whenever the driver needs one or the other, the valves can operate based on that need.
Further technologies unveiled this past decade, such as the Freevalve cylinder heads that operate without camshafts, and variable displacement engines, promise to wring the absolute maximum out of the centuries old internal combustion engine concept. All by allowing for ultimate computer-controlled optimization for both efficiency and power.
Transmissions
The drivetrains that deliver the power from those improved engines have been transformed themselves. In 2010, six speed transmissions were the gold standard, but now several separate transmission technologies have helped minimize drivetrain losses and maximize efficiency. These include better standard automatic transmissions that now include better programming and more gears. These are cheap to produce, but provide performance similar to high end transmissions such as dual-clutch units.
Speaking of dual-clutch transmissions, or DCTs, those supercar-derived units reached the mass market over the past decade, though with a few missteps regarding the attempts at building overly cheap dry dual clutch systems earlier in the twenty teens. Now true wet dual clutch transmissions can be found in vehicles like hot hatches, offering even faster shifts than the original units found in cars like the Ferraris of the late 2000s.
The Continuously Variable Transmission, or CVT, is another type of “gearbox” that has had a renaissance in the past decade. CVTs technically have no gears at all, just a band that connects two opposing cones. Depending on where the band is riding on the rotating cones, the gear ratio shifts. This setup allows for virtually unlimited gear ratios, and no gap in power delivery between them whatsoever. That all sounds peachy, but in reality it took a few early mistakes in order to get CVTs to work as advertised. Despite early reliability issues and a very different driving experience compared to normal transmissions, these days CVTs are finally providing the benefits they were always theoretically capable of.
Enthusiasts grind their teeth amid the continuing decline in the number of cars available with fun and involving manual transmissions. But at least from an engineering perspective, the best gearbox is no gearbox at all. The most advanced transmissions of the past decade are those used on electric vehicles, whose high RPM and torque capabilities allow them to dispense with the need for transmissions altogether.
Battery Tech
Despite the huge strides made with conventional vehicles in the past decade, by far the most startling disruption in the automotive industry has been the emergence of practical electric cars. In 2010, electric vehicles were an expensive and unpractical curiosity. Playthings for the rich at best, and simply a fool’s errand at worst. But over the last decade the industry surrounding EVs has utterly transformed. At the beginning of the decade, electric vehicles still used repurposed laptop and cell phone battery technology. But now, they have their own dedicated cell chemistry and construction. Battery prices have gone down by an order of magnitude, while their capacity, charge rates, and performance have gone up by similar amounts.
While still more expensive than comparable internal combustion engine powered vehicles, electric cars and trucks offer far superior performance, smoothness, and convenience in everyday life. For those with a garage, trips to the filling station become a funny memory as their vehicle charges while they sleep. And on longer trips, interstate charging stations can now dump hundreds of miles of extra range into electric vehicles in the time their owners have a bathroom break and eat lunch. While electric road trips still aren’t quite as easy as conventional ones, that is rapidly changing as both technology and infrastructure improve. There are even practical everyday vehicles in pre-production now that could draw the majority of their required power from the sun via solar panels, thus rarely ever needing to charge at all.
Safety
When you look over the history of the automobile, few changes stand out like those relating to safety. The kinds of things that were commonplace in the 30s or 40s would make the average car owner cringe these days, from the lack of crumple zones to the steering columns that all too often impaled drivers. But as seat belts, crumple zones, airbags, and basic driver aids like traction control and ABS became commonplace, it became hard to imagine making cars even safer. But then the last decade happened.
Driver assistance systems have now gotten to the point where they are increasingly becoming a preview to semi-autonomous vehicles. Automatic braking, laning keeping software, adaptive cruise control, and other tech is now virtually universal in new cars. Combined, these systems can drive the car from freeway entry to freeway exit, including stop and go traffic in the middle of the journey.
Conclusion
Modern automotive technology is something to behold, largely because so much of it has seemingly happened so quickly. Advanced airbags, stronger materials for crash structures, lightning fast electric vehicles that also happen to be safer in a crash than any kind of consumer passenger vehicle ever made, direct wireless phone integration with Apple Carplay and Android Auto, in car apps, built in wifi hotspot hotspots, and way more are all products of a short span of time that has improved vehicles more than any other set of years in history.
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