headline mesabi: A Detailed Look at Automotive Technology

If you have no idea what is automotive technology, it is the field of study that focuses on repairing, maintaining, inspecting and building trucks and cars that rely on gasoline, electricity, diesel engines and alternative substances like fuel or ethanol for power.

Importance

This technology used to concentrate on mechanical repairs and procedures but now relies on high technology, using computers and computerized equipment to assess issues with electronic components, diagnose problems and test vehicles. The field is a vast one and it covers topics like temperature-control systems, fuel systems, ignition systems, four-wheel functioning, engine performance and electrical systems.

A Detailed Look at Automotive Technology

Research and Development

The competition is very stiff so research and development is always ongoing. There are many subjects covered in R&D but for businesses one of the most important is researching the tastes and preferences of consumers when it comes to trucks and cars. This is usually done by conducting surveys. Different surveys are done because cars have various target markets. These surveys are used by companies to determine what kind of vehicle to make and what features to add.

Future Automotive Technologies

There are many future technologies being developed and they focus on different aspects like materials, energy sources and design. The purpose of the research and development is to make automobiles more energy efficient. While the goal is the same, the methods for achieving these goals vary.

Fuel Efficiency and Advanced Controls

The most important goal right now for manufacturers is to make cars more fuel efficient, as rising gas prices continue unabated. With this in mind, many carmakers are now producing fuel-cell, battery, and hybrid energy saving vehicles. But development of the technology is not easy, with one of the problems being finding a power source for energy efficient cars.

However, there are many proposals such as liquid nitrogen cars, compressed-air cars, hydrogen cars and electric cars. Numerous steering control concepts have emerged, and there are plans of developing cars that can control of platoons of other vehicles.

Energy Saving Cars

Most cars today function at an efficiency rate of 15%. The rest of the energy is lost in the engine when it is idling, inefficiencies in the drive train and in the rest of the engine. It is for this reason that researchers are trying to improve this aspect of automotive technology.

One method that is used is regenerative braking as it can save energy and keep them for use in a later time. With standard brakes, all of the kinetic energy is used up and changed to thermal energy. With regenerative braking, some of the energy is kept and allows the battery to be recharged. However, this only works with hybrid cars.

Another example of this is Turbosteamer from BMW. This is in concept form but it shows promise. What is does is utilize the exhaust gas energy. According to the research, this can save energy by up to 15%. Another technology being developed is Compressed air Hybrid, an engine that forces air that is compressed in the engine which lowers the consumption of fuel by 30%.

This is just an overview of what is automotive technology, but it should be enough to help you get the concept. The field is vast, and with rapid advancements, the future of cars and other vehicles look promising and will be more energy efficient.

Tom is a free lancer writer and content builder of http://www.askdeb.com/ and now a days he is doing work on Automotive Technology