Internal combustion engines don't produce enough torque at very low speeds to get a several-thousand-pound car moving except with very low gearing (lots of engine revs for very little movement.) These low gears can't sustain higher speeds for the highway or even more moderate thoroughfares. Multi-speed transmissions that require shifting today seem an anachronism, tied to the internal-combustion engine and its narrow power band. Since electric motors produce their maximum torque (pulling-power) from a standstill, and continue to make power over a wide range of speeds, they can operate through the same fixed gear ratio at all times-the only exceptions in the future being 200-mph supercars. Today's new era of electric cars doesn't depend on shifting among multiple gear ratios to manage daily tasks. Like so many automatic transmissions since, the Olds Automatic Safety Transmission proved unreliable, which is thought to be why only this one survives.Īs this car signaled the beginning of the automatic transmission era, a similar transition today may signal its end. GM, Oldsmobile's parent company, went on to modify this same design to build its first fully automatic transmission, the Hydra-Matic, in 1940 by adding a fluid-coupling torque converter in place of the clutch. Once underway, though, Oldsmobile's Automatic Safety Transmission did all the shifting.ĭeveloped by Earl Thompson, the Olds AST was the first transmission to use hydraulic pressure to operate internal clutches to engage different gears and speed and throttle-position sensors to determine which gear to select automatically.ĭON'T MISS: The US Senate once had its own electric cars: two Studebakers that ran underground The driver still had to master a clutch pedal to bring the car to a stop and get it started again. It wasn't quite as automatic as we think of today. Oldsmobile called this first automatic transmission the Automatic Safety Transmission, since it allowed drivers to keep both hands on the wheel instead of reaching down to shift. 1938 Oldsmobile Convertible Coupe with Automatic Safety Transmission
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