Are car companies the laziest organisations ever?!?

Question

The motorcar has been around for 100 years, yet it doesn't really strike me as showing 100 years progress. It still basically comes down to the driver sitting on the chassis holding a wheel as a controlled explosion occurs, driving the wheels forward, and emitting smoke out the back. All car companies have done is dress the car up with more modern bodywork and gadgets inside. Why have car companies been so lazy? Or has car design advanced more than I am aware?

Answer 1

are you serious?

early engines were polution machines, the gasses coming from the tail pipes were not regulated and car manufacturers did nothing to protect the environment.

nowadays, we have strict emissions laws and smog laws. there are components on vehicles that recirculate exhaust gasses back into the combustion chambers to make sure there is no unburnt fuel escaping into the atmosphere. Cataletic converters, EGR valves, Smog pumps, even engine management computers (ECU) in cars assist in lowering emissions and keeping the exhaust escaping into the atmosphere as clean as possible.

there are ratings on engines depending on how few emissions are coming from them, PZEV (Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle) vehicles are made by almost all auto manfacturers today. of course the Hybrid vehicles are helping to lessen the impact automobiles are making (although, the lead acid batteries for the electric motors are going to be hitting our landfills when they wear out, like all batteries do) and the fully electric vehicles are in a class all their own.

I agree with you tho, the automotive industry has a long way to go...with current technology, it shouldnt be too long before we see cars running on hydrogen, fuel cells and zero emissions vehicles all over the place (i'm hoping). or could you imagine a car that has some sort of fusion engine that would break down water and use the hydrogen and oxygen as a form of fuel?

there are lots of reasons why we are still using fossil fuel in our cars, mostly political i'm sure, but as the current generation of politicians start to die off, we can only hope that the next generation will be more environmentaly minded. i'll keep my fingers crossed.

Answer 2

The car well lets see the first ones you used a crank to start and would go 30 top end speed! Ive owned 12-8-6-4cylinders and i think the progress has been profound ive only been around half of the years so id say yes they have made alot of progress!

Answer 3

The advances that u are not aware of are all in the engines, for example if u look at any car of the same model u will find that the older models have large engines with small ammounts of horse power and large ammounts of poorly filtered exhaust fumes, for example the toyota corolla in 1079 had a 1.8 L I4 79 hp engine, and newer corollas have the same size engine but closer to 140 hp and of course better exhaust management.

Answer 4

It all depends on who you are referring too. Dealers yes manufactures no.
Dealers only want your MONEY. Example change serpentine belt replacement cost. $60. charge for 1 hour. Actual time 15 min. with a coffee break.
Manufactures have done a lot for us since the beginning. The cars of the teens Thur the 30's were constantly being fixed on weekends. 40,s Thur early 50's the Eng. rebuilt @50k mi. Late 50's Thur mid 80's 100k mi. by the time 2000, 200k wasn't unusual.
I had 54 Ford rebuilt the eng at @60k.
59 Chev went @110K sold it.
70 Chevell went @110k, now has @170k. still have it
84 Ford @130k sold it
98 Chev @150k Still have it
97 Chev @200k sold it
93 chev truck @ 80k Still have it
cars have come along way. From keep your tools ready to keep them in your garage in your box.

Answer 5

I can tell you've never worked in an automotive factory. You wouldn't be calling people lazy. Try working on the line and installing all those improvements in a couple thousand cars a day.

Answer 6

They have, believe it or not, advanced a lot. Toyota's designing a steering wheel that can tell if you're drunk or not. There are hybrids out there that switch from electricity to gas. There are smart cars.

Besides, even if they didn't advance this much, what exactly makes you think that improving the car or inventing something or advancing ANY technology is easy?

Answer 7

To manufacture cars is a big business. Traditions are leading these kind of enterprises. To invent something really new is hard for them. They are still based on gasoline and engines which can use different fractions of oil (gasoline, diesel oil) to produce energy.

If there were - and this is something new - small factories producing new types of cars with new types of engines, new types of chassis etc., they could be a success.

Your opinion is right, no doubt. But who is brave enough to begin the construction of novel, ecological cars? Who has money to start this kind of evo/revolutionary action?

Answer 8

some are lazy, some are not. for example, look around at those hybrid-electric cars. they are trying to make the planet more efficient and clean. theres one from honda, toyota, and more. just look them up. so to answer your question, yes. car design has adcanved MUCH more than you are aware. they just cant put it into production just yet. =] hope it helps

Answer 9

Car design has advanced WAY more than you're aware of.

Answer 10

A short answer, but- pick up a car magazine and learn that what you're saying is utter cobblers.