All language subtitles for Engineering.Evolved.S01E01.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

[energetic music]

- [Narrator] Since the
invention of the wheel,

humans have pushed the
boundaries and possibilities

to go faster, higher, and
deeper than ever before.

The engineering evolution of
cars, ships, planes, trains,

submersibles, and rockets
has been a monumental journey

of inspiration, innovation,
sometimes failure, and success.

So how did we get
to where we are now,

and where are we going next?

[pencil scratching]

[energetic music]

There is perhaps no
piece of technology

more ubiquitous to
humanity than the car.

- These are essential parts
of our everyday mobility.

They're technologies
that inform industry,

and we rely quite
heavily on them.

- [Narrator] The automobile
has become a dominant feature

in our daily lives, impacting
everything from work,

travel, and even leisure.

Over the decades, manufacturers
have constantly strived

to push vehicles
past their limits.

- When Tesla unveiled their
self-driving functionality,

it was really game changing.

- They were different
from anything

the public had ever seen before.

- [Narrator] Seemingly
small innovations

have led to major
milestones in engineering,

helping us go further, faster,

and with more autonomy.

But the way in which we use cars

is at a pivotal time in history.

Now we find ourselves

in the middle of the biggest
automotive revolution

since Henry Ford's
first production line

started mass producing
his vehicles in 1930.

- There were a lot
of technologies

that needed to come together

to have an effective automobile.

- [Narrator] But
just a century later,

the next revolution has begun

that could drastically
transform how they're made,

what they're capable of,
and what they look like.

A new evolution has begun

which could see roadways teaming
with autonomous vehicles,

where pedals or steering
wheels are a thing of the past.

Electric vehicles that
charge in mere minutes

and cars that run
exclusively on solar power

could be just on the horizon.

Some of the most innovative
minds on the planet

are channeling their energy

into creating the
cars of the future.

- I mean, there are people
working on automated cars

like driverless cars, how
to manage them on roads

through sensoring and signaling
and through a point of like,

there used be a Bruce Willis
movie, like Fifth Dimension,

things where he used to
like fly cars around,

and things of that nature
are not too far away.

- [Narrator] While the
craziest concept vehicles

aren't available yet to drive,

there are a plethora of
amazing electric vehicles

on the market today.

From Porsche's luxury
Take Hand Turbo S

to the more affordable
Chevrolet Bolt,

almost every major car company
offers their own versions.

Electric vehicles are seeing
a surge in global popularity

at a time in history

when nations are setting
aggressive targets

in an effort to reduce
global emissions.

- So in response to this,

and I think this is
something that we see

both in the natural
resources sector

and in with, you know,
other technologies,

engineers are looking
at other alternatives

to see how far we can push
the sort of low carbon

or the greenness
of our vehicles.

- [Narrator] There
are 14 companies

that dominate the industry,

with factories
all over the world

producing over 85
million vehicles in 2022.

In many of these factories,
the construction is done

almost entirely by
industrial robots.

This incredible
feat of engineering

has been evolving
since the 1960s.

Improving efficiency in
automotive manufacturing

and eliminating safety
risk for humans,

parts are added as the
vehicles move through

an automatic assembly line to
receive some finishing touches

until they're ready
to hit the road.

- I think a lot of companies

are trying to be
part of the change.

They see that this is
where the future is headed,

and so all of them are
trying to have a stake

in the electric vehicle market.

- [Narrator] This is all
thanks to huge improvements

in battery tech,
charging infrastructure,

and a major shift in
public perception.

The automotive industry

is going through a
rapid transformation.

These manufacturers
don't just build cars,

they're also technology
companies that write code

and create smart products.

The most cutting edge
companies use autonomous tech

to identify defects in
their assembly lines,

using predictive maintenance

to service and repair
crucial welding machines

before disaster strikes.

Automated features also have a
major impact on productivity,

allowing smart factories to
build a massive volume of cars.

Automotive manufacturers

are one of the largest
adopters of robots globally,

and their use of robots
is only going to increase.

Technology is progressing
in leaps and bounds,

and there is huge buzz
around the future of EVs.

To the general public,

it might feel like electric
cars are a relatively new thing,

but what most don't realize

is that at the turn
of the 20th century,

there were actually more
electric vehicles on the road

than gasoline powered vehicles.

In their heyday of the 1900s,

you were nearly twice as likely

to encounter an
electric car on the road

than a gas powered one.

During the 1800s,

the early pioneers of
electric mobility flourished.

Electric cars were appealing
to the early innovators

as providing a cleaner,
quieter alternative

to horse-drawn vehicles.

- We need to look back to 1859

where a French scientist by
the name of Gaston Plante

first invented the very first
battery that was rechargeable

and was a lead acid battery.

- [Narrator] A battery works
by converting chemical energy

into electrical energy
through a chemical reaction,

allowing the flow of
electrons between its positive

and negative terminals to
create an electric charge.

- [Nana] And that
electric charge

then is what's used
to power the vehicle.

So at the time
that Gaston Plante

invented his lead acid battery,

what the battery looked like

was it was made of two
spiral sheets of pure lead.

They were separated
by a thin linen sheet,

and all this was immersed in
a container of sulfuric acid.

- [Narrator] Plante's
fundamental concepts

laid the groundwork

for the more practical lead
acid batteries used today,

including the 12 volt
installed in the world's

first mass produced
hybrid electric vehicle,

the Toyota Prius.

The hybrid system
allows the vehicle

to switch between using the
internal combustion engine

and the electric motor

depending on driving
conditions and power demands.

- The most ubiquitous hybrid
has to be the Toyota Prius.

These were very common

and it sort of made the
idea of the hybrid car

a very commonplace thing.

- [Narrator] At this
time, most automakers

hadn't quite cracked the
code on achieving the range

required to make electric
or hybrid cars viable.

- At the same time as
the Prius came out,

most of the other major
automotive manufacturers

were working on
variations of a hybrid

to varying degrees of success,

but nothing was as successful
as the Toyota Prius.

It's probably the most prolific
hybrid vehicle out there,

and was really a precursor

for how reliable an
electric vehicle could be.

- [Narrator] The major obstacle
was extending battery life,

but engineers
working on the Prius

used a technique by
breaking the battery

into a large number
of smaller modules.

- That way nothing was
ever being overcharged

and nothing was ever
being totally depleted.

- [Narrator] But surprisingly,

the evolution of the
electric vehicles

we see on the road today

can be traced to a historical
gas guzzling sport.

As the top echelon
of motor sports,

Formula One is a hotbed
of technical development

and game changing innovation.

- [Paul] Anytime you pin
people against one another

and make them compete where
their stakes are high,

I feel like you extract
from those people

the most innovative
technologies.

And the Formula One
system that's built

really pins people
against each other,

causes them to compete,

causes them to be creative
and work together,

and it creates some
of the technologies

that we then transfer
into the mass market.

- Underneath all the
glitz and glamour of F-1,

millions of dollars are
invested in the sport

to make the cars
faster, stronger, safer,

more aerodynamic and
technologically advanced.

A Formula One engine is an apex
predator of the motor world,

with cylinders seeing
50,000 mini explosions

during a single lap
to drive its pistons

and inside temperatures reaching
2,750 degrees centigrade.

But the innovation goes far
beyond what's under the hood.

- So there's a lot of money

put into the racing industry

with a focus on research
and development,

and there's so many different
innovations and findings

because of this.

- [Paul] If we think of
what our steering wheel

looks like today, it's got
all these buttons on it.

We could control the radio

without ever having to let
go of that steering wheel.

That really came from the fact
that the Formula One driver

needed to be able to operate
the various features of the car

without letting go of
the steering wheel.

- [Narrator] Active suspension,

which controls the vertical
movement of the wheels

using an array of
computers and sensors

to ensure a smoother ride,

is just one of the many
innovations born out of racing.

The 1992 Williams FW-14B
revolutionized active suspension

and is now used by a range
of cars on the road today.

Regenerative braking
developed by curves

converts the energy of motion

when the car decelerates
into electrical energy,

which is stored in a battery.

- When we use
conventional brakes,

we actually convert
all that kinetic energy

into heat and simply waste it.

So with regenerative braking,

instead of wasting
that energy as heat,

we convert it back
into electrical energy

and recharge batteries.

- [Narrator] Introduced in 2009

and now used in all electric
vehicles on the road today.

But even Formula One engineers

have to nod back to
those early pioneers

who first got us
moving using energy

rather than foot or horsepower.

Incredible automobile
innovations

can be traced all the way
back to the late 1600s

to mark the innovation of the
first steam powered vehicle,

which led to the creation

of the first steam
powered automobile

capable of human transportation.

- These vehicles
are extremely slow.

They have really
unreliable steam engines.

They're actually
not that practical.

- At the end of
the 19th century,

the development of the motorcar

found itself at a crossroads.

Large numbers of engineers
and innovative tinkerers

were experimenting with engine
technologies of all types.

- We needed a new system,
and that was really evident.

If you look at the
late 19th century,

we had thousands of horses,

hundreds of thousands of
horses in these cities.

I mean, it was just a nightmare

of horse urine and horse waste.

It was just horrible.

- [Narrator] As inventors
began to branch out

at the end of the 19th century,

development would split off
into three primary methods

for powering personal
transportation:

electricity, steam,
and liquid fuel.

- There were a number
of small makers,

either carriage companies,
or well, in Europe,

these were often
bicycle companies

that were converting
the technologies

that they knew like carriages
into the automobile.

- [Narrator] For decades,

gas guzzling vehicles
have ruled supreme,

but now with the onset
of global warming

and the need to reduce
our carbon emissions,

a reboot is needed.

- When we look specifically
at electric vehicles today,

we're currently at what we
will call a tipping point.

- [Narrator] One of
the biggest pioneers

in the world of EVs
is Tesla motors.

- In 2003, Tesla
motors was formed,

and they did a couple of
very transformative things.

- [Narrator] In 2006, the
Silicon Valley startup

announced it would
start producing

a luxury electric sports car

that could go more than 320
kilometers on a single charge,

which was completely unheard of.

Tesla unveiled their first
production car in 2008,

the first to run
lithium ion batteries

and to demonstrate this 320
kilometer driving range.

- A lot of that attractiveness
to the Tesla vehicles

were how they were designed.

- [Steve] They
really changed things

by altering what people
thought of electric cars.

Up until that time,

electric cars were not
very flashy looking,

but Tesla came along and
promised luxury, range,

and most importantly,
performance.

- Tesla not only showed that
this design was feasible,

but also showed that this
was attractive to the public.

- [Narrator] Although
the cost of a Tesla car

can be prohibitive, automaker
Nissan raised the competition

with its launch of the
Nissan Leaf in 2010.

- When this came along,

it was more of a price friendly
model of electric vehicle,

but promised a 200
kilometer range

on a fully charged battery.

- [Narrator] Powering
the first model

was a 24 kilowatt hour
lithium ion battery.

In 2018, the Leaf
takes the crown

as the bestselling full use
electric car in history.

- Although it would
eventually be overtaken

by the Tesla Model Three.

- [Narrator] The Leaf
was Nissan's guess

of what an electric
car should be.

It would be a small city
car and very well made,

but for many, it didn't add
the excitement of driving.

The genius of Tesla's
founder, Elon Musk,

was that he recognized

what would really
launch the electric car.

It would be capable
of going fast

and enhance the
driving experience

with some radical technology
at the driver's fingertips.

The Tesla Model X
is considered to be

one of the coolest electric
vehicles on the market,

merging functionality
with luxury.

The standard Model X
boasts 670 horsepower

and accelerates zero to
100 kilometers per hour

in around 3.8 seconds,

with some eye-catching features
like its Falcon Wing doors.

But arguably, the most amazing
innovation about this car

is its ability to drive itself.

- Tesla has always been very
good for pushing the boundaries

of where automotive
technology is these days.

- [Narrator] In 2015,
Tesla rolled out autopilot,

allowing for full
hands-free control

for highway and freeway driving.

This was the first time that
semi-autonomous technology

of this level was being offered
in a commercial vehicle.

- When Tesla unveiled their
self-driving functionality,

it was really game changing.

It scared a lot of people

and it excited a
lot of other people.

- [Narrator] One
technological advancement

that made self-driving possible

arrived in the early 2000s,
radar cruise control systems.

Where older cruise
control systems

could maintain the car speed,

these new ones
could also maintain

a safe distance to
the car in front

without driver intervention.

- It actually monitored
and controlled acceleration

and braking in a range
that you could program,

and it was sort of ideal
for highway driving.

- [Narrator] Even if the
car changes its speed.

- [Steve] The vehicle
would be able to monitor

if you were swaying from lanes,

it could hold
itself in position,

and it would keep
you a safe distance

depending on the
speed you were driving

and how close you were to
the car in front of you.

- [Narrator] It was
through the pathbreaking

DARPA grand challenges of the
mid 2000s that LIDAR emerged

as the key to safe and
reliable autonomous navigation.

- LIDAR is basically a system
that measures the distance

between the sensor and an object

using the time that
the light travels

to go to the object
and come back.

- [Narrator] The
competition was created

to spur the development
of technologies

needed to create the first
fully autonomous ground vehicles

capable of completing a
substantial off-road course

within a limited time.

- LIDAR is really using light
like radar, similar to radar,

to build a map of what's
going on around the vehicle.

It can look at what the road
surface looks like ahead of it,

look at other vehicles,
look at the roadway,

and build a map of its space

so the vehicle can
understand what's around it

and react to that
using the computer.

- [Narrator] This
was the first time

that semi-autonomous
technology of this level

was being offered in
a commercial vehicle,

but to this day, both experts
and the public remain split

on whether or not the technology

is ready to go to
the next level.

- Tesla's autopilot system
really is kind of that step

towards fully
autonomous vehicles.

It's really a system

that determines what's going
on in the environment around it

and responds to it.

So it really has the capacity
to be almost fully autonomous.

In certain situations,

the driver's still going
to have to provide input

'cause that system
isn't perfect yet.

- [Narrator] Considered by some

to be the space race
of our generation,

autonomous driving systems

are seen as a sort of
holy grail of innovation

in the automotive
industry, and even today,

there are more self-driving
cars on the road

than people may realize.

- So when I think of
autonomous vehicle,

I think of it on a
scale of one to five.

- [Narrator] Tesla's
autopilot can be classified

as a level two automation.

Level two automation

is like an advanced
version of cruise control.

The car can take some safety
actions automatically,

but the driver must
stay alert at the wheel.

- [Paul] Cruise control was
probably one of the first ways

we started to automate
the driving process,

and it was simply a tool

that allowed us to
keep a consistent speed

as we drove down a certain
long stretch of road.

- [Narrator] There were
several fatal crashes in 2018

involving autonomous vehicles,

one including a level four AV.

- When we designed cars,

we almost assume they will at
some point be in an accident,

and so we design those
cars with that in mind.

- [Narrator] A level
four automation level

means that the car can
mostly drive itself

without any human input, but
maybe incapable of operating

in unmapped areas or
during severe weather.

One major consequence
of these fatalities

has been a steep decline
in public trust in EVs,

which persists today.

- A lot of people
think that older cars,

very long or very rigid cars

were what we needed
to have for safety,

but it's the complete opposite.

- [Narrator] There has yet
to be a production vehicle

that is capable of
level five autonomy,

which is full automation
in all conditions,

but thanks to an increase in
technological advancements,

there are cars on the road today

that are capable of
level three autonomy,

which is actually pretty close
to what many people consider

to be a fully
self-driving vehicle.

Level three autonomy uses AI

and other driver
assistance systems

to make decisions based
on changing situations

around the vehicle.

Although the technology
can run unsupervised,

a human driver is required

to take over at the
wheel if needed.

- I think that we
can move towards

adapting to that
level of technology,

but there's a lot more
work that needs to be done.

There's a possibility
that the risk might move

from the passengers
inside the vehicles

to the pedestrians
out on the street.

- We figured out how to drive
a car at a consistent speed,

which required us to figure
out how to accelerate the car,

and you know, required
us to figure out

how to decelerate
the car when needed,

let's say going
up or down hills.

We had to maintain
that consistent speed.

So I think the natural
progression was that,

hey, if we know
how to accelerate

and decelerate a car already,

why don't we put some detectors
in the front of that car

that will detect the
presence of some objects

that might require us
to decelerate quickly,

and that evolution of slowing
down as we approach a risk

started to take shape.

- [Narrator] Companies
have been experimenting

with automated driving
systems for almost a century.

In 1926, Houdina radio control
operated the 1926 Chandler

using radio impulses on
the streets of New York,

allowing remote control

of some of the functions
of the vehicle.

20 years later,
engineer Ralph Teeter

invented the first
modern cruise control.

He spent 10 years
experimenting with this device,

paving the way for present
day GPS driving directions.

In the 1950s and 60s,

RCA labs and the
Ohio State University

also ran promising trials
with their autonomous tech.

In 1961, with the space race

between the USA and
USSR in full swing,

researchers began to ponder
landing vehicles on the moon.

- Similar to electric vehicles

where there's this conception
that they're a new technology,

autonomous cars or
autonomous vehicles

also were experimented with
earlier in the 20th century,

and in this area, we're
seeing knowledge transfer

between different industries.

So the Lunar rover's
a great example

where technology
used to automate

and drive a vehicle remotely

is something that can
then be transferred

and adopted and adapted
into consumer vehicles.

- [Narrator] The idea of a
remote control lunar rover

was put forward by James Adams,

a graduate student at
Stanford Engineering.

He created the world's first

truly self-driving wheeled
vehicle, known as the Cart.

Tricked out with cameras,

the Cart was programmed
to autonomously detect

and follow a line on the ground.

This was the first use of
cameras in autonomous vehicles,

a vital element in the
autonomous vehicles of today.

- Mainstream automakers

wouldn't get involved
with autonomous vehicles

until the late 1990s.

- [Narrator] But
that didn't stop them

from creating futuristic
concepts for a fantastical world

where our cars drive themselves.

- So looking back at
the initial designs

for the autonomous vehicles,

they were different

from anything the public
had ever seen before.

Some would even say they looked
like living rooms on wheels.

- [Narrator] Norman Bel Geddes

is credited with creating
the first self-driving car,

which was an electric vehicle

guided by radio controlled
electromagnetic fields

generated with
magnetized metal spikes

embedded in the roadway.

His concept was shown off
in a GM exhibit in 1939,

and by 1958, General Motors had
made this concept a reality.

Then in 1964, GM unveiled
the Firebird four

at its Futurama exhibit at
the New York World's Fair.

- The concept of
the Firebird four

had features like self-driving,

and it could drive
itself on highways,

it could turn on its own,

and things that are
kind of more common

in what we think of as
autonomous vehicles today.

Despite the fact that this
happened in the mid '60s,

you know, we're kind of
living these realities now.

Some maybe lesser
practical items

were a foldout refrigerator and
some TV screens, but I mean,

we already kind of have
TV screens in some of the,

you know, more modern
electric cars now.

So maybe we're not so far
away from refrigerators.

- [Emily] The Firebird certainly
wasn't a practical vehicle,

but I think what it speaks to

is what people thought the
future of driving would be.

So it was very much a
living space on wheels.

Autonomous vehicles today

don't really embody
those same features,

and so that's where
you see the difference

and maybe the distinction

between what people
think the future will be

versus the reality of those
situations and scenarios.

- [Narrator] Another
crazy concept car

is the Ford Airstream,

a retro-futuristic
crossover utility vehicle.

In 2007, the first Airstream

debuted at the North American
Auto Expo in Detroit.

The modern version operates
exclusively on electric power

using a hybrid
hydrogen fuel cell,

which could be the green
energy of the future.

Today, more and
more car companies

are honing in on green
energy as a power source,

and the most common
green vehicles

are electric cars
running on batteries.

- Most of the batteries
that we use today

are based on lithium
ion technology.

They replaced the nickel
metal hydride batteries

that were in the early versions

of electric vehicles
and hybrid vehicles.

The lithium batteries are
intrinsically lighter,

and they have high
energy density.

So the critical thing here

is to be able to increase
the density of energy storage

inside the vehicle to the
highest extent possible.

- [Narrator] Batteries
are the new gold rush

as far as automakers
are concerned.

Better, more powerful batteries

will drive widespread
use of electric cars,

but there are some caveats,

one being that lithium
can be described

as a non-renewable mineral

that makes renewable
energy possible,

and some experts tout
it as the next oil.

While lithium is relatively
abundant in the earth's crust,

commercially viable deposits

that could be economically
extracted are limited,

and the rate at which new
lithium deposits are formed

is much slower

than the rate at which
lithium is being extracted.

However, broadly speaking,

electric cars produce
significantly fewer

planet warming emissions than
most cars fueled by gasoline.

- From the 1980s onward,
we started really realizing

that our CO2 emissions

were having a huge
impact on the planet.

We started having
global warming.

As CO2 levels have
built up on earth,

we've seen more and
more adverse effects,

and we will continue to see
these effects into the future.

They're not solved
in the short run.

To try and change, we need to
move away from fossil fuels,

and this is why currently
there's a huge push

to go back to battery
electric vehicles.

These vehicles
don't release CO2,

they're much more
environmentally friendly,

and they really help us solve
the global warming crisis.

- The problem monster that's
creeping up in battery

is the fact that we are refining

every critical metal
in the world now,

which we never touched.

Sirium, lanthanum,
actinides, scandium,

manganese, nickel, cobalt,

things that we never
knew existed except
on a periodic table

are now being mined
for our cell phones,

for our berries, for every,

we don't even know
the effect of that.

- [Narrator] Ironically, to
move to a greener future,

the extraction of
the minerals we need

contributes to local soil
degradation, water shortages,

biodiversity loss, and damage
to ecosystem functions.

- We naturally produce waste
because we take the ore,

which has a relatively
small amount

of the elements that we want,
we extract those elements,

and then what we have
left is not of value.

We need to do that in a way

such that the leftover
material is benign,

so we don't introduce into
it things that are damaging.

- [Narrator] While lithium
mining is not perfect,

ultimately it is cleaner
than coal extraction,

and there are some really
exciting solutions in the works

that could improve
the efficiency

and maybe even
eliminate the need

for lithium mining
in the future.

- Another challenge is how
these lithium ion batteries

are disposed of when the
car is no longer in use.

I think it's important to
find ways to dispose of them

in a more environmentally
friendly way,

and there's still a challenge
around that currently.

- [Narrator] Those challenges
have always been faced

when new technologies
have been developed.

Back in the early 1900s,

the search for renewable
automotive energy solutions

would unite two of the best
known innovators in history.

Around the late 19th century,
Henry Ford and Thomas Edison

teamed up to combine the power
of their brilliant minds,

and while the public was
aware of their collaborations,

their first project was
a little known bombshell,

the creation of the
world's first electric car.

- The two were essentially
trying to find an efficient

and usable battery for, you
know, Ford's automobiles.

- [Narrator] Despite
a lot of big promises,

the development of
Edison's battery

was costly and unsuccessful.

They had very high
internal resistance.

They were too big,
very expensive,

and released hydrogen when
charging, which is dangerous.

Essentially, they were
incapable of powering

an electric car at the time.

Ford backed out of
the collaboration.

It had already cost
him $40 million,

equivalent of an investment
over $1.5 billion today.

- And so pulling
all of that money

and sort of ending the research

and experimentation altogether

really set back the potential
for electric vehicles.

- [Narrator] Another problem
with early EV development

was that electricity was
only available in cities,

limiting rural residents

from using this new
type of vehicle.

The Texas oil boom in
the early 20th century

was an absolute game changer.

Gasoline became cheap
and attainable for all,

and powered by the easy
access to gasoline,

Ford shifted his mission to
building a transport system

based on this conventional fuel.

Cheap, abundant gasoline
and continued improvements

to the internal
combustion engine

hampered demand for
alternative fuel vehicles

and solidified gasoline
vehicles' dominance.

- [Vanessa] Because of
this, the Ford Motor Company

wouldn't try to make
another electric vehicle

until almost a century later.

- [Narrator] After the
death of the electric car

in the early 1900s,

the majority of
automakers and engineers

focused their efforts on
the combustion engine.

- The competition from the
alternate ways of mobility,

which is done by the
fossil fuel burning

and internal combustion
engine inventions

and things of that nature,

and the reasons that the
energy that those gave

were phenomenally higher

than the energies
the batteries gave.

- I think if the Texas
oil boom didn't happen,

there would've been more
need to keep pushing

with the advancements
of electric vehicles

and seeing how we can
steer in that direction.

- [Narrator] Today, car
technology is evolving

at incredible speeds, however,
these developments again

are being propelled
by the racing world,

but this time, not Formula
One, but Formula E,

the E standing for electric.

- Formula E has demonstrated

what the future of electric
vehicles could look like.

- [Narrator] Car makers
including Porsche, Jaguar,

and Mercedes have looked
to Formula E as a test bed

in which to develop
cutting edge technology

that can be fed straight
back into the factory.

When Formula E was
first introduced,

cars would have to be charged
in the middle of the race.

After four years of innovations

and improvements in the
energy density of the cells

used in the battery pack,

Formula E gen two cars saw a
drastic improvement in range.

Third generation cars'
regenerative braking systems

can feed back more than 40%

of the energy used
during the race.

New chargers with a
160 kilowatt capacity

will be capable of charging
two cars at the same time.

The mind-blowing electric
vehicles we see today

are radically different from
the first EVs on the road,

especially in the
United Kingdom.

Since the 1930s, the British
people have had their milk

and other dairy products
delivered by electric.

- So the milk floats were
designed to deliver fresh milk,

and they were used in the UK.

The Express Dairy company was
the first to use milk floats,

and that was in 1932.

- The milk float is
essentially a delivery van,

but the goods that it's
delivering are milk.

And so these were quite
popular in the UK,

and similar to current
electric fleets

that you see
grocery stores using

or delivery services using,

there are areas where technology
can be adopted quite early

because of the repetitive

kind of necessary motions
of these vehicles.

- [Narrator] Their
experiments with a small fleet

of GV electric vehicles in
London proved successful

and led to the replacement
of horse drawn milk floats.

- They had batteries that
could save the charge

for quite long time
for the whole trip,

and it was on for
quite a long time.

But the way we are thinking
about electric vehicles now

for passengers probably
is something new

or a project that is restarted
after like 100 years, right,

after almost 100
years being started.

- [Narrator] Although some
traditional milk floats

are used in the UK today,

the more modern ones
are still electric,

traveling more than
14 miles per year.

That's 556 times
around the world.

As power sources of
cars continue to evolve,

so do their designs.

Augmented reality
allows engineers to see

how their most
cutting edge ideas

could come together in a vehicle

without having to enter
a factory assembly line.

This futuristic method of design

allows engineers to
build virtual prototypes

which can reduce costs and
improve vehicle safety.

They can also make adjustments
quickly and easily,

saving time, money,
and material.

Today, one company is bringing

the most futuristic car
concept into reality.

California-based company Alef

is developing the world's
first real flying car.

Designed for street driving
like a regular vehicle,

what makes it
truly revolutionary

is the car's ability to raise
up vertically on a dime,

soaring above traffic accidents

and other obstacles on the road.

Lifting straight up
to towards the clouds,

this incredible
car flies forward

until the desired
destination is reached.

During flight, the driver
and cabin are stabilized

using a unique
rotating gimbal design.

This flying car is not only
super cool, but super clean.

The current model
is 100% electric,

and a hydrogen powered
option may be offered as well

with an extended drive
and flight range.

Following four years of R and
D, research and development,

the first full-size prototype

was successfully flown in 2019,

bringing a space-age
dream of flying cars

one step closer to reality.

With vehicles like
these in the works,

it's hard not to imagine a
future where all cars can fly.

However, flying cars
and high-tech vehicles

that are on the road
today could never exist

without the decades
long development

of highly advanced and
very tiny computers.

- [Vanessa] Looking
at the evolution that
computers have had

over the decades, going from
very large scale equipment

to more compact style devices,

that has also trickled down
to the automotive industry

where they're looking to
make more compact style cars.

- [Narrator] These days,
every element of our lives

is powered by some
sort of computer.

Even Bluetooth headphones have
microprocessors in them now.

There is perhaps no industry

where this trend
is more tangible

than the automotive industry.

- When these futuristic
concept cars in the mid '60s

were being developed,

we were relying on like
cathode ray tube technology.

But as we progressed, we
developed the microchip.

- [Narrator] Before
the microchip,

electronics relied on a
three electrode vacuum tube,

allowing breakthrough
inventions like radio,

television, and computers
to become a reality.

But the vacuum tube
was fragile, bulky,

power hungry, and expensive.

As early as the 1930s,

scientists sought a
better alternative,

leading to the invention
of the mighty microchip.

- So we can have a
tiny amount of silicone

or germanium semiconductor,
and we can manufacture,

build every piece of
hardware on one substrate,

and it became very, very small.

- [Narrator] Each
microchip is made up

of a crystalline semiconductor

stacked with huge numbers
of microscopic transistors

and other miniature
electronic devices.

- The miniaturization of
components unlocked the ability

to add a lot more features

that we could never
imagine adding before.

- [Narrator] The
first chips in cars

were used to manage
simple functions

like fuel injection and
transmissions shifting.

Today's chips are used
to handle everything

from locking doors and
calculating fuel efficiency

to emergency braking,
traction control,

and automatic parking.

They're absolutely critical
for use in autonomous vehicles.

- When we started out, in
order to to accelerate the car,

you had literally the
pedal moving a valve

that would move a little rod

that would open
another little valve

and add more fuel to the system.

Everything was fully mechanical.

Now, when we touch
that accelerator pedal,

it's actually just sensing

the distance that
we've depressed it

and doing everything
else electronically.

- [Narrator] For autonomous
vehicles to become the norm,

so much information must
be gathered in real time

such as traffic conditions,
events, weather conditions,

road signs, traffic
signals, and others.

This requires massive
data processing,

high trillions of
operations per second.

Today, tests on
autonomous vehicles

are being run all
over the world.

Companies like Hyundai and Kia

have joined other manufacturers

designing level three
autonomous vehicles,

the Genesis G90 and the V9.

The Genesis G90 boasts
a turbocharged 3.5
liter V6 engine,

capable of reaching
409 horsepower

using an electric supercharger.

With a high output
engine under its hood,

the G90 can rocket to 60
miles per hour in 5 seconds.

And the Genesis G90
is the first vehicle

with level three autonomous
driving in Korea.

Industry heavyweights are
predicting that by 2030,

half of all new cars on the road

will be capable of level
three autonomous driving.

But we have to keep in mind

that it's not all about the
technology of a specific car

when it comes to autonomy.

Whether or not you can
drive a level three car

down your street depends
a lot on regulations,

and it's taken a long time
to get to where we are today.

Up until the '70s,

the internal combustion engine
had basically won over EVs,

but a major historical
event was on the horizon

that would drastically alter
the future of car engineering.

- The auto industry
doesn't like to do things

unless they have to.

So similarly to how
there was an oil boom,

in 1973, there was
an oil embargo.

Now all of a sudden, the
shoe was on the other foot.

It was much more expensive
to power gasoline cars,

and so the electric
vehicle rose again.

- [Narrator] During
the 1970s oil crisis,

Stanley Whittingham,

an English chemist working
for ExxonMobil at the time,

started exploring the
idea of a new battery,

one that can recharge on its
own in a short amount of time

and perhaps lead to fossil
free energy one day.

In his first attempt, he
tried using titanium disulfide

and lithium metal
as the electrodes,

but the combination
posed several challenges,

including serious
safety concerns.

After the battery
short-circuited
and caught on fire,

the experiment was called off,

but the gauntlet had
been thrown down,

and scientists across the
world started experiments

to get the right
metals to work together

to create the perfect battery.

John B Goodenough, an
engineering professor

at the University of Texas
at Austin, had another idea.

In the 1980s, he experimented
using lithium cobalt oxide

as the cathode instead
of titanium disulfide,

which paid off.

The battery doubled
its energy potential.

- Between the 1980s,
1990s, and early 2000s,

we really saw the evolution
of lithium batteries.

Lithium is really an interesting
element, it's very light.

It's the third element
on the periodic table,

so it's really low density.

That's really
advantageous for batteries

because it makes them light.

- [Narrator] Five years
later, Akira Yoshino

of Meijo University in Nagoya,
Japan made another swap.

Instead of using reactive
lithium metal as the anode,

he tried using a carbonaceous
material, petroleum coke,

which led to a
revolutionary finding.

Not only was the new
battery significantly safer

without lithium metal,

the battery performance
was more stable.

- We discovered different
systems of electrolytes

like lithium polymer
batteries that are much safer

and much less likely to fail.

We also incorporated various
design considerations

into those products,
into the battery packs

to make them less likely
to leak and catch fire.

- [Narrator] These three
major breakthroughs

came together to produce
the first prototype

of the lithium ion
battery as we know it,

which has changed the world.

- [Robert] So there's
been a lot of development

of technology over
the last four decades

really to get us to the
point where we are today

in that we have
relatively high power,

lightweight batteries
that are still safe.

- [Narrator] The act of simply
driving an electric vehicle

doesn't produce any emissions,

and that is definitely a win.

But to really get a sense

of the full environmental
impact of an EV,

you need to look at
the whole picture.

- [Steve] One future burden
that electric cars may place

on our current infrastructure
is just on the power grid.

If everybody has an electric car

and everybody is
charging their cars,

let's say at nighttime,

that's gonna be a real
burden on the electric grid

that I don't think
we're currently capable
of dealing with.

- [Narrator] Where
the electricity

charging your EV comes
from makes a big difference

when it comes to EV
environmental impact.

- So some of the limitations

with the electric
vehicles right now

revolve around how
to power the car.

Right now there's
charging stations,

but they're not as accessible

and widespread as
your gas stations.

So those are the challenges

a lot of people are facing right
now with electric vehicles.

- [Narrator] Many
local electricity grids

are still powered by coal.

They need to get
much, much cleaner

before electric vehicles
are truly emissions free.

- With the current issues faced

with mining
lithium-ion materials,

I think it's worth looking
into different types of power.

- [Narrator] One possible
solution, solar energy.

Whether it's a solar
panel setup at home

or solar panels installed
on top of a car,

the majority of future EVs
could be solar powered.

- [Vanessa] Solar power might be

a more friendly
type of power to use

because it could be as simple

as just leaving your car outside
to absorb the solar energy,

and that could help
you power your car

for the rest of the day.

- [Narrator] Sunlight is
converted directly into energy

in a system known as
photovoltaic charging,

and its popularity is
rapidly increasing.

The world's first commercial
solar-electric vehicles

are hitting the US

and European markets
in the next few years.

- My idea of the design of a
conventional solar powered car

would be maybe having solar
panels at the roof of the car

that are maybe embedded
into the design

so it doesn't look too bulky

and still gives people
that sleek look.

- [Narrator] Solar panels
are so inexpensive,

and integrating them into
the skin of a car is so easy,

it's hard to envision this
won't be cost effective.

Some companies are
producing electric vehicles

with integrated solar panels,

which can harness
the sun's power

to provide around 15 to 45
additional miles on a clear day,

or their vehicles
could be fueled by
what's underneath them.

- As we look to the future
of electric vehicles,

we need to find solutions

that are gonna allow for
faster charging times.

- [Robert] We can put
induction charging systems

in our roadways.

We now have many cell phones

that can be inductively charged.

Basically, our pad generates
an electromagnetic field

that then is able
to charge our phone.

We can actually
do that with cars.

We can embed these
systems in highways

so that you drive down a 10
kilometer section of road,

the battery gets
charged up by induction

while you're driving over
that section of roadway,

and then for the next 100
kilometers, discharges.

So you could have a system

that allows you to drive
from New York to Florida

without having to stop
every two and a half hours

to charge your Tesla
for three hours.

- [Narrator] With new
battery technologies,

we are also seeing massive
improvements in range

and a decrease in
EV battery costs,

which brings a lot of promise

for the future of the industry.

- Prior to 2015, we
really didn't have

great battery technology

to allow mass
electrification of vehicles.

That technology has developed

really quickly in
the last decade,

and we now can do
it relatively easily

and relatively low cost.

- [Narrator] The Ford F-150

has been America's best-selling
vehicle for nearly 50 years,

and to many, it represents
power, hard work, and grit.

A callback to one of
Henry Ford's first

and most ambitious projects,

the Ford F-150 has
now gone electric.

The Lightning F-150

changed what's under
the hood dramatically,

but promises to
deliver that same power

with electric technology.

- We see a large
number of manufacturers

producing electric vehicles now,

from the Ford F-150 Lightning
electric vehicle to Teslas

to Mercedes, to Porsche,
to lower cost vehicles

like the Nissan Leaf
and the Chevy Bolt.

So this is really
becoming a popular way

of powering vehicles.

- The future of electric
vehicles is very exciting

because looking at
how far it's come,

there's still so much
room for improvement.

There's still so much
room for advancement.

- [Narrator] The promise
of driverless technology

has long been enticing.

It has the potential to
transform our experience

of commuting and long journeys,

take people out of high
risk work environments,

and streamline our industries.

- A lot of our
vehicle technology

is designed to keep people
safe when they drive.

So cars have to
be over designed.

They're heavier than
they need to be.

They have a lot more technology
in them than we would need

because we can't rely on
the people who drive them

to always drive safely.

- [Narrator] It's key
to helping us build

the cities of the future

and paving the way for more
sustainable ways of living

where our relationship
with cars are redefined.

Not to mention it could
make our travel safer.

- The development of
autonomous driving technology

is still in its early stages.

It's already pretty darn good.

I mean, you read in the paper
sometimes about an accident

where an autonomous vehicle
has run into something.

That happens one time,
it makes the news.

Whereas with
human-driven vehicles,

that's happening every
day, all the time,

and we don't even
think about it.

So in a world where all
vehicles are autonomous,

we can rely on that
technology for crash avoidance

and we'll no longer
have to build vehicles

to withstand high speed crashes.

And that will mean we
can dramatically reduce

the weight of vehicles, and
a lot of the safety features

that are currently built into

our current vehicle
technologies.

- I think to achieve
the idealized end goal

of self-driving cars, we have
to make some concessions.

I don't think it's reasonable

to fully rework
our infrastructure,

but I do think we're going
to need to have something

like a smart road
or sensors placed

throughout more common
busy traffic streets

so that cars are
getting feedback

from the infrastructure itself.

- [Narrator] But
the next big hurdle

would be mastering the ability

for the computers in cars
to talk to each other.

- Nowadays, cars
are very connected

thanks to the
internet of things.

This includes
stereo advancements,
navigation systems,

and many more things.

- [Narrator] The
internet of things, IOT,

is crucial for many aspects
of our modern day cars,

including driver
assistance systems,

infotainment, navigation,
and predictive maintenance,

and the general concept
of connectivity.

Before the internet,

the concept of connected
cars was unfathomable.

But today, practically every
new car is a connected car

contributing to a larger
network of connected devices

and machines that will change
the way we live our lives.

- In 20 or 30 years,

we're basically gonna have
extreme weather all the time,

and eventually we'll
run out of fossil fuels.

We need to change
what we're doing.

So electric vehicles are
not just a temporary thing,

they're an inevitability,
this is going to happen.

So the next wave of cars
in the next 30 years,

they're all going
to be electric.

We really don't have a choice.

[exciting music]