Conventionally most of the early innovations and patents in auto industry were about designing a better powertrain. Every component like motor, drive train which is assisting and sustaining the motion of the car are considered to be powertrain components. The first major inventions where around designing motors to generate mechanical energy from chemical energy by using fossil fuels. Even after 100 years of innovation and engineering majority of today's cars still have the internal combustion engines running on gasoline or diesel. During 1980's as the world turned its focus towards environment, many stringent emission regulations started effecting the auto industry and engineering world. It was during this time that electronics and software started evolving as well which were the biggest enablers, which accelerated the innovation in this space. Today powertrain control module or other way know as the engine computer is one of the integral part of vehicles powertrain. Many advanced software algorithms and solutions on this engine computer control the powertrain and make it more efficient and environment friendly. Today the same cars deliver a fuel economy around 30mpg while we used to see 6-7 mpg in the past, kudos to engineering and software developments in automobiles.
Currently the industry and customers are slowly making a step towards zero emissions i.e. having and developing cars which drive on electric motors rather than conventional combustion engines. Electrification is driven by emission regulations and many OEM's and visionaries in this space. Enablers like advanced software and electronics and batteries are quickly catching up with the demand of the technology. Researchers in this domain are working towards improving the range, accessibility of charging the electric vehicles etc. . Companies like tesla, GM, ford and others are investing big capital into this space of business.
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