Steering wheel first button added to the steering wheel was a switch to activate the car's electric horn. Traditionally located on the steering wheel hub or center pad, the horn switch was sometimes placed on the spokes or activated via a decorative horn ring which obviated the necessity to move a hand away from the rim. Electrical connections are made via a slip ring. A further development, the Rim Blow steering wheel, integrated the horn switch into the steering wheel rim. In 1966, Ford offered the Highway Pilot Speed Control Option, with steering wheel pad mounted rocker switches, on its Thunderbird. Uniquely,
Wheel hub motor axles, provides a significant weight and manufacturing cost saving, while also decreasing the environmental impact of the product. The major disadvantage of a wheel hub motor is that the weight of the electric motor increases the unsprung weight, which adversely affects handling and ride. The wheels are more sluggish in responding to road conditions, especially fast motions over bumps, and transmit the bumps to the chassis instead of absorbing them. Most conventional electric motors include ferrous material composed of laminated electrical steel. This ferrous material contributes most of the weight of electric motors. To minimize this weight, several recent wheel-motor