Electronics play key role in auto innovations

At this year's Daytona 500, the Sprint Cup Series will make its long-anticipated move from carbureted to fuel injected engines.

The change marks the end of an era and, with it, a new era begins.

Electronic fuel injection (EFI) promises to deliver new levels of performance and efficiency while narrowing the gap between NASCAR stock car and the passenger vehicle you drive today. And for the first time in the history of the sport, laptop computers and software will play a visible role in the garage.

It's important, then, to take a minute and talk about the technology behind the change, how the role of technology may evolve within NASCAR, and how electronics are enhancing the passenger cars of today and tomorrow.

Mechanical fuel injection has been around since the early days of the automobile. With the increase in performance and decreases in the cost of modern computer chips (i.e., processors), most passenger cars were running on electronic fuel injection by the early 1990s. With this evolution, engines gained the potential to become more efficient, powerful and reliable. It's not hard to remember a time when the odometer only had five digits and 'rolling it over' to 100,000 miles was not only rare but probably the end of the car's useful life. Today, electronics and electronic control are the keys to making automotive products more efficient. And, as processors have become more powerful, they're able to deliver greater levels of control over the engines they manage.

This trend is even more evident in today's street vehicle. In the past decade, the varieties of automotive technologies available have increased dramatically. Clean diesel, hybrid, and direct-cylinder injection have each improved the efficiency of today's passenger car. Our cars are not only getting superior fuel mileage, they're just as powerful as they ever were. Maintaining power and performance underscores the point that while efficiency is always important, as consumers, we want automobiles that are safe and fun, too.

The reality is that almost all automotive innovations in the past thirty years would not have been possible without electronics. The mid 1990s brought with them the first wave of improvements in safety, including the introduction of the first airbag systems. Today you'll find cars with five, six, seven or more airbags. Although an accident appears to happen in the blink of an eye, the electronics in the car examine the many different variables involved in a crash to almost instantly determine which airbags to deploy. The '90s also brought the first anti-lock brake and stability control systems into service. These features, along with airbags, are now standard equipment.

Today, the car is almost more of an electronic product than a mechanical one. Even entry-level cars may have navigation systems, backup cameras, connected radios, LED lighting and a myriad of other features. The next generation in safety is starting to arrive with front collision detection, lane departure warning, and more. It's not unusual for a passenger vehicle to have seventy or more processors to enable these many features.

One thing seems certain -- the trend toward increased use of technology isn't going to slow down. The growth rate of electronics in automobiles will continue to rise. New technologies still on the drawing board promise even greater levels of efficiency but will also require a huge increase in computing power to implement.

Change isn't always comfortable and technology may well have taken the place of straightforward mechanics in some cases, but it's also helped to usher in a new era of vehicle efficiency, safety and reliability. At Freescale, they live by "Mission Zero," a relentless drive to reach zero emissions, zero defects and zero fatalities. And it's what brings them to work each and every day.

For more information about electronics and technologies in today's passenger vehicle, visit http://freescale.com/automotive.