Chapter 286: Automobile Industry

Among the entries for the technology awards, one project caught Gao Da's attention: the automobile project developed by Benz and the others.

Come to think of it, it had been several years since Gao Da had personally visited the automobile factory to check on the progress of automobile research and development.

It wasn't that Gao Da didn't value the development of automobiles; it was mainly because the technological limitations of this era resulted in the current automobile engines having great instability.

The last time Gao Da visited the automobile factory, Benz clearly told him that existing automobiles had to be inspected after driving about 200 kilometers, otherwise, unpredictable problems would likely occur; the mildest being engine damage, and in the worst case, the entire vehicle could be scrapped.

Although the speed of automobiles had been increased to over 30 kilometers per hour, the drawback of only being able to drive 200 kilometers continuously also severely limited the commercialization of automobiles.

More importantly, the automobile industry at that time was not mature, and with the factory producing only a few hundred vehicles a year, it was impossible to achieve full-scale commercialization.

Several years had passed since Gao Da's last visit to the automobile factory, and Gao Da finally remembered the automobile developed by Benz and intended to visit the factory in person to see to what extent the current automobile had been developed.

Logically speaking, the sign of the rapid development of the automobile industry is the birth of the Model T. But the technology related to the Model T had already appeared at the end of the 19th century, and various countries already had relatively stable automobile technology and corresponding engineering.

What limited the development of the automobile market was not technology, but the scale of the automobile industry in various countries and the speed of automobile construction.

Before the birth of the assembly line production at the Fute Company, automobile production in all countries was done entirely by hand. This not only relied heavily on the experience of automobile workers but also significantly reduced the speed of automobile production.

Before the birth of the Model T, the largest automobile factory at the time produced no more than a few hundred cars a year.

The annual output of most automobile factories was less than double digits, and some factories, even if they could produce cars, would go bankrupt due to the problem of not being able to sell them.

Because automobiles were purely handmade, the price of automobiles at that time was very expensive. Even nobles and capitalists could not necessarily afford expensive cars, which also led to a very limited scale of the automobile market; the total annual output of automobiles in all of Europe plus the United States was less than 10, 00.

The appearance of the Model T greatly increased the production speed of automobiles, which was also the reason for the expansion of the automobile scale.

Gao Da was full of expectations for Benz's automobile factory, hoping that they could develop a relatively stable automobile and then rely on the assembly line production method to rapidly expand the automobile market.

The automobile industry in various countries in this era was not yet mature, and Spain had already reached the forefront of various countries in the field of automobiles.

As long as Spain's automobiles could occupy half of the global automobile market before other countries mastered mature automobile industries, coupled with subsequent good operations, the sales of automobiles would bring huge income to Spain.

Although the equity of the automobile company belonged to Gao Da, the annual tax could also provide a large amount of income for the Spanish government.

The Model T was born in 1908, and the world's automobile ownership before that was only tens of thousands. After the birth of the Model T, it took only 19 years to sell 15 million cars.

This actually also represented that as long as the selling price of the automobile could be controlled within a reasonable figure, the automobile market was quite huge.

If the automobile developed by Spain could sell 15 million units, even if the profit of one car was only 100 pesetas, this would be a net income of as high as 1. billion pesetas.

The tax obtained by the government would not be small either; the development of the automobile industry was a good thing with only benefits and no harm for Gao Da and the Spanish government.

August 18, 1881, in a large industrial zone on the outskirts of Madrid.

On one of the main roads in the industrial zone, a large factory appeared somewhat quiet at this time.

The factory gates were wide open, and the workers were not working in the factory, but instead picked up brooms and other tools, carefully sweeping the road bit by bit.

The area everyone was cleaning was not just inside the factory; the main road outside the factory was also a target for the big cleanup. When such a strange scene appeared in the industrial zone, it actually meant that this factory was about to welcome a distinguished guest.

This distinguished guest was naturally Gao Da. Upon learning that Gao Da was about to arrive at the automobile factory for an inspection, Benz gathered all the workers of the automobile factory and required everyone to clean up the sanitary environment inside the factory to welcome the arrival of His Majesty the Emperor with a more hygienic and tidy environment.

Upon learning that the Emperor was about to inspect the factory, the workers of the automobile factory were also full of energy, and cleaning up became a quite pleasant job.

"Everyone, hurry up, His Majesty the Emperor is coming soon. If His Majesty the Emperor sees this messy scene, it will be inevitable that he will lose confidence in our automobile factory." As the factory manager, Benz was also holding a broom at this time, cleaning up with the factory workers.

Under the manager's leading by example, the workers were full of energy, and the factory road was soon cleaned up.

The main road of the industrial zone branched off into a straight road leading directly into the factory, turned a corner in the area near the right side, went straight north, and connected to the large square behind the factory, which was also the testing area for automobiles.

In this open square, several cars produced by the automobile factory were parked at this time. These cars had quite bright colors and looked like they had just been produced not long ago.

After finishing the cleaning, everyone in the automobile factory stood straight at the factory gate, quietly waiting for the arrival of His Majesty the Emperor.

Gao Da did not make them wait for a long time.

About ten minutes later, a motorcade drove over slowly. At the head were two modified cars; the cars had no roofs, making it convenient for the soldiers sitting inside to observe the surrounding situation and protect Gao Da's safety.

There were three cars of the same appearance at the end of the motorcade, with five cars protecting the safety of the car in the middle, one in front and one behind.

The car Gao Da was riding in was in the middle of the motorcade; this was a specially modified car, and its size was a large circle bigger than the ordinary cars the soldiers were riding in.

The motorcade slowly approached the factory gate and then stopped.

The guards stepped out from the five cars in the front and back; the guard captain first ordered the guards to line up, and then respectfully stepped forward to open the car door for Gao Da.

Gao Da slowly stepped out of the car, his curious gaze looking out at this automobile factory he had never seen before.

The last time Gao Da inspected the progress of automobile research and development, he went to the experimental area on the outskirts of Madrid.

Besides the electricity laboratory of Gramme, there was also an engine laboratory there. At that time, automobile manufacturing and testing were also carried out there, and that small experimental area was also hailed by Gao Da as the industrial brain of Spain.

It is worth mentioning that both the electricity laboratory and the engine laboratory achieved good results.

The power company and the automobile company established based on these two laboratories had long since moved to a larger industrial zone.

"Your Majesty!" Benz walked up quickly and said to Gao Da with a respectful face.

"Mr. Benz, long time no see. Let the workers go and rest; isn't it tiring to stand here all the time? You take a few technical experts and come with me inside the factory to take a look; come to think of it, I haven't visited this factory yet." Gao Da said with a smile.

"It is my honor, Your Majesty." Benz nodded respectfully and took a few technical experts to follow Gao Da into the automobile factory.

Ever since the royal family's assets continued to increase, Gao Da had reduced his attention to some of his own industries.

The reason was also very simple: the enterprises controlled by the royal family were simply too many, so many that Gao Da could no longer keep track of them.

For industries with large investments like the automobile factory, Gao Da only paid attention occasionally. There was no way around it; there were many such industries with large investments, and if he paid attention to them one by one, Gao Da would not have to worry about government affairs and the like.

Fortunately, the ability of Butler Luo Lun was indeed good, and he had always managed the royal family's industries well. Butler Luo Lun would also report the development of the royal family's industries to Gao Da every year; although it could not compare to the growth of the Spanish government's fiscal revenue, it was steady and progressive, earning more each year than the year before.

Gao Da was able to take out 25 million pesetas at once for the creation of the Gao Da Prize precisely because the royal family's current funds were already countless.

Never mind 25 million pesetas, even taking out 100 million pesetas at once was easy for Gao Da at this time.

This also made Gao Da lose the concept of money long ago. Various investments started at the million level, and sometimes million-level fund expenditures did not even need Gao Da's approval; Butler Luo Lun could decide by himself.

Benz, of course, also knew that Gao Da had not been to this factory, which had been established for only a few years, so he introduced it quite detailedly along the way.

"Your Majesty, our automobile factory has been established for six years, and currently, we have cumulatively produced over 600 cars, and the annual automobile production can reach about 500 units at the highest.

Currently, the workers in the automobile factory are all senior technical backbones; if the automobile factory needs to expand, they can train a large number of automobile workers for the automobile factory.

Because of your instructions, the automobile factory has already prepared the workshop for assembly line production and only needs to wait for the automobile to be tested and confirmed as qualified before the assembly line production mode can be started.

Currently, most of our cars are built by hand; if we can fully adopt the assembly line production mode, perhaps our automobile output can see a surge in a short period of time." Benz explained to Gao Da with a smile.

Before coming to Spain, he had never thought that his company could develop to such a point today.

Although he only held 2% of the company's total shares, these 2% of shares currently also had a quite high value.

Benz, of course, understood the development potential of the automobile as a means of transportation. After the automobile market continued to expand in the future, the value of this automobile company would also continue to rise.

This also made Benz full of expectations for the future development of the automobile and the automobile company. Just by relying on the 2% shares of the automobile company, Benz had the hope of becoming a millionaire in the future.

Hearing Benz's introduction, Gao Da nodded.

Assembly line production was the most important means for automobiles to increase production speed, and Gao Da had long told Benz the secret of assembly line production.

Actually, there was no secret; it was just to split the production process of the automobile into multiple steps, and let each workshop be responsible for only one of the steps.

The benefits of doing this were obvious. Previously, one team needed to build the entire car, and although this could improve the automobile workers' familiarity with the car, it caused every car to have subtle differences.

Workers could keep two parts with the same appearance and structure, but it was impossible to keep two cars with the same appearance and structure.

Handmade was destined to have certain differences, and these differences also led to high maintenance costs for handmade cars, and even made repairs very difficult.

Adopting the assembly line production method, letting one worker be responsible for only one type of part production, could reduce the differences between different cars and simultaneously reduce the maintenance costs of the car.

One person being responsible for the production of only one part could also effectively improve the efficiency of the workers. Once the efficiency of the workers was improved, the time required for automobile production naturally decreased.

Benz was quite excited about the assembly line production method proposed by Gao Da. If they proceeded according to such a production method, the output of the automobile company could double several times at any time, or even increase by more than ten times within a year.

According to the current annual automobile output of 500 units, if it could increase by ten times, it would mean that the automobile company could produce 5, 00 cars per year.

Such an annual output could already satisfy the early expansion of the automobile market; if the performance of the automobile could meet Gao Da's requirements, this also meant that the automobile was about to enter commercialization, and the automobile company was also about to welcome its own golden age.

After the not-so-long automobile factory introduction session ended, Gao Da and Benz and others came to the square behind the automobile factory to visit the several cars newly built by the automobile factory.

Benz continued to introduce to Gao Da: "Your Majesty, please look, this is the latest car we have built. We have adopted the newly developed engine with the code name EG-3 from the engine laboratory. This engine can provide the car with about 35 horsepower, pushing the car to move forward at a faster speed.

We have also made certain changes to the tires; compared to the previous car tires, the current car tire width has reached 6 inches, possessing more powerful grip.

We have added spring suspension to each tire, effectively reducing the bumpy feeling when the car is running at full speed. According to our preliminary tests, the current maximum speed of the car has been able to reach 40 kilometers per hour and can drive stably for at least 500 kilometers."

Gao Da nodded again, quite satisfied with the current data of the automobile.

A speed that could reach 40 kilometers per hour was already a huge improvement compared to a horse-drawn carriage. Being able to drive stably for 500 kilometers was almost the distance from Madrid to Barcelona.

According to the maximum speed of the car of 40 kilometers per hour, driving 500 kilometers continuously would take 13 hours, and who could drive a car continuously for 13 hours?

Current cars did not have power-assisted steering, and if the car wanted to turn, it all relied on one's own arm strength. In other words, no one could persist in driving a car for 13 consecutive hours, not even a superman.

This also meant that as long as an automobile inspection station was built every few hundred kilometers within Spain, the automobile could achieve commercialization.

Of course, gas stations were also very necessary. After all, a thing like an automobile could not run without fuel, and a car without fuel was not even as good as a single hair of a horse.

"What is the cost of such a car?" Gao Da asked.

Cost was also an extremely critical factor, determining whether the automobile could be favored by the market.

If the cost of the automobile was too high, it meant that the selling price of the automobile could not be low. An excessively high selling price would affect the public's choice; sometimes people would rather accept a cheaper horse-drawn carriage than enjoy a faster but more expensive car.

"Currently, the cost of these few cars we have built is 12, 00 pesetas; if we can use the assembly line production method to increase the automobile production speed, the automobile cost can at least be reduced to below 10, 00 pesetas." Benz replied.

Gao Da shook his head, not satisfied with the current cost of the automobile. 12, 00 pesetas was not a small number, as high as 484. pounds, or 2, 23 dollars.

Such a figure was simply not something an ordinary family could afford, which also meant that the users of the automobile would be limited to the two major groups of nobles and capitalists, and even the middle class would not have the fortune to enjoy it.

"We must find a way to limit the automobile cost to below 6, 00 pesetas so that we can attract more people to buy our cars.

Of course, this is not a goal for the short term. In the short term, we only need to reduce the cost to 10, 00 pesetas to allow such cars to move towards commercialization." Gao Da evaluated.

Only when the cost is reduced to 6, 00 pesetas would the middle class have the ability to buy cars.

Before that, the automobile would always be a luxury for nobles and the rich. However, the total number of nobles and capitalists in the world was not small, and it was completely enough for the early expansion of the automobile.

After the assembly line production effectively reduces the cost of the automobile, it would not be too late to consider selling cars to the middle class and commoners.

The Fute Company in history, by relying on the technology of assembly line production plus the cost reduction brought by mass production, reduced the cost of the automobile to 260 dollars, which was 52 pounds.

Such a cost was quite exaggerated; at least the current Spanish automobile company was far from reaching it.

According to the production cost of 260 dollars for the Fute Company's Model T, it would only be 1, 52 pesetas when converted, which was almost one-tenth of the current Spanish automobile production cost.

Never mind 1, 52 pesetas, even reducing the cost to below 10, 00 pesetas would require a certain amount of time to achieve.

This also meant that in the short term, the automobile company could not replicate the Fute Company's history of success, and it would already be quite good to allow the automobile market to have a certain scale.

Benz nodded; he was also quite clear about the current defects of automobiles in terms of cost. No matter how excellent an automobile might be, the cost and selling price must be lowered.

Only by becoming a means of transport that ordinary people can afford can the automobile truly enter thousands of households and become an important means of transport, rather than a luxury item circulating only among the rich.

After the introduction was completed, the next part reached the stage of practical testing.

Kaluo was still quite interested in the new automobile's speed of up to 40 kilometers per hour; such a speed was already able to satisfy daily needs.

One must know that the currently most popular means of transport, the train, only had a speed of less than 60 kilometers per hour.

This was only achievable in flat terrain where the train's speed had no restrictions.

Because Spain had many mountainous areas, the speed of trains in Spain was generally maintained at 30 to 40 kilometers per hour, and very few trains could break the 40 kilometers per hour speed limit.

This also meant that driving an automobile newly produced by the automobile company between two cities in Spain might take less time than a direct train journey.

After all, trains needed to stop at train stations to let passengers on and off. Stopping wasted a lot of time, while automobiles could go directly to the destination without needing to stop midway.

Unless the fuel was insufficient or the automobile developed problems, the efficiency of an automobile was higher than that of a train for distances within 500 kilometers.

Of course, this efficiency only applied to carrying people. If an automobile were used to haul cargo, the speed certainly could not reach 40 kilometers per hour.

Currently, the speed of freight trains in Spain was generally 20 to 30 kilometers per hour, and most of the time it was below 25 kilometers per hour.

If an automobile were used to haul cargo, the speed should also be at this level, or perhaps even hover around 20 kilometers per hour.

It was for the same reason: Spain was mountainous, and the roads were not that flat.

Hauling heavy cargo was also a burden on the automobile's engine, and whether it could haul heavy cargo for over 500 kilometers was also a question Kaluo was quite curious about.

Carrying people for 500 kilometers was not considered a great achievement, but if it could stably travel over 500 kilometers while fully loaded with cargo, that would definitely be considered an excellent performance for current automobile technology.

If an automobile could reach such a level, it could be said that the automobile already possessed the ability to replace the horse-drawn carriage.

And only when the automobile could completely replace the horse-drawn carriage could the golden age of the automobile be considered to have truly arrived.

It was precisely because of this that what Kaluo was more concerned about was the performance of such automobiles in terms of hauling cargo.

This type of new automobile had a total of five seats, two more than the original automobile, and its passenger-carrying capacity had been effectively improved.

Of course, one could also remove all seats except the driver's seat to turn the automobile into a cargo-carrying automobile.

Benz and the others tested the automobile's passenger-carrying and cargo-carrying capabilities one after another; when fully loaded with five people, it could indeed reach a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour.

It was just that such a maximum speed was a bit hard on the engine, and most of the time it traveled at a speed of 36 kilometers per hour.

Only when carrying only one person could the automobile maintain a speed of 40 kilometers for a long time. However, there was no big difference between 36 kilometers per hour and 40 kilometers per hour, and Kaluo could accept this point.

In terms of cargo, this automobile also expressed a quite excellent level.

Counting the driver, the entire automobile could bear a weight of 420kg, which was 70kg more load-bearing capacity than the previous generation of automobiles.

This also meant that the automobile's capability in hauling cargo had been effectively improved; whether buying an automobile to carry passengers or haul cargo, it was a better choice than a horse-drawn carriage.

In terms of speed, when fully loaded with 420kg of cargo, the new automobile's maximum speed could barely reach 30 kilometers per hour.

It was just that, like carrying people, such a maximum speed could not be maintained for long. To travel for a long time, the speed had to be reduced to around 27 kilometers per hour.

Under full load conditions, the stable traveling speeds of the passenger automobile and the cargo automobile could reach 36 kilometers per hour and 27 kilometers per hour, which was already a quite excellent level.

Because there was not enough time, Kaluo could not see the continuous driving time of these automobiles with his own eyes.

However, the automobile factory dared not have the slightest concealment on this point; since they said the automobile could stably travel over 500 kilometers, Kaluo still believed the data they provided.

According to the actual test results of the automobile at present, apart from the disadvantage of high cost, the current automobile could be said to have no shortcomings.

Compared to a horse-drawn carriage, the automobile was faster, had stronger capabilities for carrying people or cargo, and did not require overly meticulous care.

If it could be ensured that the automobile would not frequently develop problems, then compared to a horse-drawn carriage, Kaluo would definitely choose the automobile, a more efficient means of transport.

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(End of this chapter)