By Park Kyu-tae
Cars are now sort of personal effects similar to cellular phones and credit cards in our daily lives in most developed countries. Having a car was so often synonymous with wealth, but it is certainly not any more ― except some deluxe and vintage cars.
Driving a car is pretty refreshing, in mind and body, and it makes our work efficient and faster to some extent. Human beings have concentrated their energies on walking faster and running quicker.
It is evident to say the thinking has realized upgrading their speed by making use of bicycles, cars and aircrafts mostly in the last century. Automobiles have steadily shaped up for more than 100 years since the first automobile fitted with a gasoline-powered combustion engine was invented by Karl Benz (1844-1929), a German mechanical engineer, in 1885.
Ever since then, carmakers have been sprouting up all over the world. According to world statistics, car production this year is about 50 million ― and will be well over this figure by the end of the year.
In 2006, total passenger car production was 49.88 million and in Korea was 7 percent, or 3.49 million. Now, over 800 million motor vehicles are believed to be running in the world, as stated by the Physics Factbook. It is predicted that if the tendencies continue, that amount would double in the next 30 years. Consequently, in 2030, we could have 1.2 billion cars on the planet.
The U.S. produced 11.26 million, including commercial vehicles, in 2006. Those are mostly produced by the Big Three ― General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Corporation. The Big Three, though, are mired in a crisis in the aftermath of the credit tsunami.
For a bailout plan, even the U.S. Republicans are divided on aid to automakers. An auto relief package was rejected by the Senate. It is a massive blow to the immediate hopes of the Big Three carmakers. But President George W. Bush announced a $17 billion loan lifeline to GM and Chrysler last week.
If the U.S. automakers were to collapse, then consequently, there will be huge unemployment. There is no doubt that the world car industry will be in severe distress. Particularly, Korean automakers and parts suppliers would be hit hard and exports will be affected.
I honestly think the Big Three will survive after some bitter ordeals, like self-rescue measures and restructuring. Probably, Washington wants to work out their salvation even though they will give a stimulus package by any means. A. E. Housman (1859-1936), a British poet, was quoted as saying, ``The saviors come not home tonight: Themselves they could not save."
Automobile manufacturing requires one of the highest skills of mechanical engineering. The extensive automobile advancement created craftsmanship of miraculous feats for the hundreds of thousand components and devices in addition to the body designs. I believe the British Rolls Royce would be one of the highest reaches of handmade arts of automotive engineering up to now.
Relating to electronic devices and control systems in cars, at the beginning it was a primitive stage of engine ignition and some signaling lights. But cars have now picked up a great deal of electrical and electronic devices.
Professor Sunwoo Myung-ho, of the department of automotive engineering at Hanyang University, said that the average total value of electronic control units (ECU) in a car is some 35 percent ow and is steadily increasing. Hence the ECU price is anticipated as over 50 percent of a car's cost by 2015.
We may possibly enumerate some familiar ECUs as engine control, speed control, electronic power steering, telephone control unit, and GPS navigator, in excess of 50 ECUs for various subsystems. It is a rather multifaceted task to control all the ECUs.
There are advanced CAN (controller-area network) devices to communicate with control units like microprocessors within a vehicle. The software for the technology has a great deal of importance and is safety sensitive.
Additionally anti-collision sensors are well developed and will soon come ready-fit in new cars. It is supposed to be much safer, and much more electronic units will be added.
Our life is intimately dependent on cars. In contrast, the future of the car is somewhat dicey for the reason that they are one of the principal reasons for global warming, emitting a large volume of carbon dioxide.
Institutes of automobiles and electronics are holding seminars and are publishing academic papers for the comprehensive countermeasures on a regular basis in Korea and internationally.
In that sense, eco-friendly vehicles are essential. Smaller cars are first to come to minimize toxic fumes, as present fossil fuel cars would go for decades. In the meantime, automotive experts envisage hybrid vehicles as an alternative plan.
A hybrid car is a vehicle that utilizes two or more different energies to power the car. Now hybrid cars that use gasoline and electrical power are being widely developed and also some electric cars are under development, but they are still expensive for practical use.
The next step would be hydrogen vehicles. That engine uses hydrogen as its fuel for motive power. The merit of the hydrogen vehicle is that it produces driving force with no toxic materials, with the only by-product water. The fuel is ideal for cars. But there are so many things to work out for practical use.
Nothing lasts forever, but we have to hope we will survive this time of crisis. We have to observe our heart of sinusoidal beating. That is, going ups and downs. That is the sign of life.
The writer is a professor emeritus at Yonsei University and a Korea Times columnist. He can be reached at ktpark@yonsei.ac.kr