air conditioning became standard in cars in the late twentieth century.
air conditioning became standard in cars in the late twentieth century.
when did air conditioning became standard in cars?
late twentieth century
air-conditioning for automobiles came into wide use from the late twentieth century. although air conditioners use significant power, the drag of a car with closed windows is less than if the windows are open to cool the occupants. there has been much debate on the effect of air conditioning on the fuel efficiency of a vehicle. factors such as wind resistance, aerodynamics and engine power and weight must be considered, to find the true difference between using the air conditioning system and not using it, when estimating the actual fuel mileage. other factors can affect the engine, and an overall engine heat increase can affect the cooling system of the vehicle.
automobile air conditioning
the r38 was the first subway car fleet to have air conditioning installed. the last ten cars delivered (4140–4149) came factory equipped with stone safety 10-ton split system air conditioning system featuring the compressor/condenser units mounted under the cars, while the evaporator units were installed on the top interior ends of the car in 1967. the first six air conditioned cars came into service on the f train on july 19, 1967. the six-week experiment was a success after past failures and air conditioning would soon, but not immediately, become standard equipment on new rolling stock built for the system, since the first 200 r40 cars were built without air conditioning. the air conditioned cars cost $40,000 more than the non-air conditioned cars. from this point on, the new york city transit authority began adopting air conditioning as standard equipment on all new cars, and older model cars were retrofitted with ac units to make life much more bearable throughout the subway system. the stone safety air conditioning system was adopted from their standard railroad and commuter coach air conditioning systems, and it proved very successful.
r38 (new york city subway car)