The Fascinating Evolution of Automotive Wiring
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Published 2024-02-24
The fascinating evolution of automotive electrical systems traces back to the first mass-produced electrical system in the Ford Model T. Over its 19-year production, the Model T's electrical setup evolved from a simple magneto-powered ignition to incorporating elements found in modern vehicles. The narrative unfolds the transition from cloth-covered wires to advanced multipin and modular connectors, highlighting the technological leaps in automotive wiring.
In the early days, vehicles like the Ford Model T relied on cloth-covered, stranded copper wires, offering flexibility but limited durability. Early wiring faced challenges like moisture absorption and vulnerability to abrasion, leading to unreliable electrical systems. The introduction of rubber-covered wires presented a solution, albeit with its own set of drawbacks, such as brittleness over time.
The 1930s marked a significant shift with the introduction of bullet and spade terminals, eliminating the need for fasteners and allowing for more secure connections in tight spaces. This period also saw the advent of crimping, a method that enhanced connection reliability by avoiding soldering defects and improving resistance to vibration.
As vehicles became more complex, the need for efficient and reliable connectors grew. The aviation industry's adoption of circular connectors in the 1930s paved the way for similar advancements in automotive wiring. These connectors, characterized by their ruggedness and ease of use, set the stage for the standardization of components, ensuring reliability across various applications.
The introduction of synthetic polymers like PVC in the 1920s and 1930s revolutionized wire insulation, offering superior resistance to environmental factors. However, the evolving demands of automotive systems called for even more durable materials, leading to the adoption of advanced insulation materials in high-stress applications.
The 1950s saw vehicles integrating more amenities, necessitating the development of less costly, plastic-based multipin connectors. This period also marked the beginning of the transition towards electronic management systems in vehicles, significantly increasing wiring complexity.
By the 1980s, the need to transmit digital and analog signals efficiently led to the adoption of materials with low dielectric constants, minimizing signal loss. The era also welcomed the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus protocol, a robust communication system that allowed multiple electronic devices to communicate over a single channel.
The 1990s and beyond have seen vehicles adopting mixed network systems to cater to varied subsystem requirements, from critical controls to infotainment. The advent of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and the shift towards electric vehicles (EVs) have introduced new challenges and standards in automotive wiring, emphasizing safety and efficiency in high-voltage environments.
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All Comments (21)
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I'm an electronics design engineer and can say this was exceptional, drawings, graphics, animation, script, content, editing and audio. Including the spec numbers showed a complete understanding of the topic. Well done, thank you to everyone at New Mind.
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Automotive wire harness engineer here: You NAILED it! Nice job!
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I was an engineering manager in wire harness manufacture for over 40 years, and have never seen such a complete and accurate presentation of electrical wiring in vehicles !
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I worked at car restorations with a friend as a hobby from 1982 to 2000. The first one I restored was a 1952 Chevy pickup. We didn’t have a wiring diagram, but the harness was so simple that we didn’t need one. The next one was a different story. It was a 1970 302 Boss. There was nothing wrong with it mechanically or bodywise. The insurance company totaled it because of faults in the wiring harness. I found out from an adjuster that insurance companies considered wiring harnesses to be unreparable after 5 years because the insulation gets brittle and cracks when disturbed. Fortunately, we had a source that could get us original wiring diagrams for almost anything. I designed a pegboard that allowed me to run all the wires before termination and looming based on a film I had seen on late night TV showing a wiring harness being built in the 60’s. The Boss was the first time I tried it, and it worked perfectly. The assessor never even noticed it wasn’t original. The only reason I stopped was because I only knew wiring and my friend died (he was 80). We preffered pre 1980 cars because after that there were so many different types of wire required that it was costing a fortune. We always tried to restore to factory original, with the exception of paint. We left that up to the buyers. I did it as a hobby, but it was a business for my friend. He actually believed Social Sucurity would be enough, so he needed the money. My favorite was a 72 Challenger, but the most impressive was a 73 Duster. That car was just a freak. Unfortunately, the buyer wrecked it a week after he bought it. We salvaged the drive train, and we were going to put it in a street rod, but we never finished it. We did about 6 cars a year, mostly muscle cars. I look at the wiring harnesses in today’s cars and I don’t have a clue.
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As a 20yr business owner building motorsport harnesses, this is a great video for anyone that doesnt understand automotive electrical
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You don't owe us the highest quality, and yet you keep raising the bar with each video. Thank you so much!
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Outstanding video! I am a marine systems tech working on everything from basic DC to drive-by-wire control systems for Mercury, Volvo, and Yamaha. I will show this video to our service department!
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BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, and Land Rover have reported this video for hate speech.
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15:15 What all of these bad boys have in common is that they are pretty tough to seperate without breaking thier locking mechanisim. Especially when they are caked up with dirt. 21:25 This by the way works only semi well in practice. Since every manufacturer is allowed to be thier own special shade of wierd and only a few of the diagnostic codes are normed for emmisson related errors. Even expensive and fancy interfaces like Gutman or Autel Struggle to get anything out of lets say something goofy like an Iveco Daily. The bus systems in general are among the most bullet proof things on cars today. That is as long as a manufacturer doesnt suffer from the big dumb and decides to expose the wires to places where they can break from bending or scrape open from bottoming out. (Yea ive seen this before) 22:50 Biggest thing about HV vehcles is that instead of having the chassi as a ground it runs HV-ground back to the battery via a seperate wire. All HV wires are bright orange and are constantly being checked by a pilot line. Even if you really wanted to hurt your self with the HV system youd need to be very intentional and know what youre doing.
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Thank you for having such a wonderful channel - one that avoids clickbait, and which covers exactly what the video says it will. It is the most welcome breath of fresh air on YouTube, and it’s the reason I always watch your videos. And I’m sure it’s also the reason your channel will keep growing.
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One of the biggest changes in the automotive wiring is 10Base-T1S standard. This is basically 10Mbps ethernet, but over a single pair (normal 10Base-T uses 2 pairs, and 1000Gbps uses 4 pairs). It is a high speed, muilti-drop and optionally collision-less standard, that is highly compatible with standard ethernet. There are also 100 and 1000 Mbps variants (more for cameras and lidar applications), as well a separate but similar standard called 10Base-T1L, with high range (it is not used in automotive, with primary applications being industrial and building automation). They can also provide power to low power devices without extra cabling. In cars, these standards will likely displace CAN, LIN, and other similar tech, either by native Ethernet / IP traffic, or tunneling CAN and LIN. The estimated benefits are reducing cost and weight of the wiring harness by half, while providing higher performance.
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Your ability to pronounce the modern day insulation materials without a stutter or any mishaps goes to show just how much effort and care goes into your content. Being a technician myself, I would have made the effort to pronounce those words correctly, but only once. I would focus on the acronyms and the various applications if it was my script. Great video. This is incredibly detailed and highly educational. I will probably view this one a few times this week.
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Am an electrical automotive engineering student. I must say this is a complete, factural, easy to understand content about automotive wiring.
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I am addicted to watching all of your automotive related videos, as of now I have watched this video 7 times and will probably continue to go back and watch others. As an automotive service technician I thank you for your high quality content and so many automotive videos. I recommend your channel to as many other technicians as I can
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how it is always fascinating to see how much jem-packed your videos are love your work
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This was a professional well-done video! The next video needs to be on the next chapter, which has just been written. The Cyber truck moved to a 48v system and an Ethernet loop, moving past the Boch CAN BUS system. Well done! Great history lesson.
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Great stuff. I’m hiring this guy to wire my house.
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This video popped up on my feed, not expecting much I clicked on it. I found it very interesting and was blown away by the amount of information packed into it. What an awesome job, well done!
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My first car was a 50's British model. It's entire electrical system diagram fits on one page. The same diagram for my 2018 car requires hundreds of pages, not including the interior wiring contained in many modules and devices.
