The Strange and Dangerous Ways Drivers Stayed Warm Before Car Heaters – Jalopnik

Those who live in states that suffer harsh winter conditions, especially in the north, have probably had some choice words when scraping ice and snow off their cars. However, a little perspective can change your outlook, especially when you consider what early motorists had to do to stay warm.

Because the first automobiles were influenced by horse-drawn carriages, something essential was missing from their design: an enclosed cab. Before cars like General Motors’ 1906 Cadillac Model H Coupe, every occupant in the car was exposed to the open air. Imagine how cold it must have been if you traveled through early 20th century Chicago in late January, with an average low today of 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Even after cars began offering enclosed interiors, there was still a problem with providing heat to passengers, who initially used gas lamps (which burned coal gas containing elements such as methane, hydrogen and carbon monoxide) to generate both light and heat.

Inventive pioneers – such as Margaret Wilcox, the woman who indirectly invented the car heater – laid the foundation for future car heating systems. However, several other ideas were also tried. Some were simple, such as using heated rocks or charcoal and storing them in the interior of the car in iron and asbestos drawers. Others were more complex and attempted to direct the heat generated by the vehicle’s muffler into the cabin. Alarm bells should be going off in your head right about now, considering these early methods of putting motorists exposed to heat at risk of fire, carbon monoxide poisoning, and chronic lung disease from possible inhalation of asbestos fibers. These early threats have undoubtedly been replaced by a new one.

Fast forward to today, and many of the easy-to-use physical dashboard controls of decades past (like the temperature slider) have been replaced by touchscreen menus. While modern vehicle heating systems no longer pose all the dangers found in some of the first cars, the risk now lies in distracted driving. Many argue that physical controls offer greater simplicity due to their tactile function, requiring less effort (and less looking away) than today’s media touch controls.

From a study by Auto Expressvarious touchscreens were put to the test to determine which was the most distracting, citing factors such as slow processing and quirky menu navigation. Keep in mind that to adjust the heat, you’ll have to navigate through an interface similar to a smartphone, even though 33 states have a law against physical phone use while driving and 49 states have banned texting behind the wheel. Although Genesis claimed the unfortunate first place on the list, the fact that so many automakers could show up on a test like this is an indictment of modern automotive design. Fortunately, some in the industry are seeing the error of their ways, with Volkswagen’s CEO admitting it was a mistake to leave out buttons and other physical controls.