Which Car Company was the First to Offer Air Conditioning in its Cars?
The 1940 Packard was the first car to offer factory-installed air conditioning.
By 1969, more than half of all new cars sold were equipped with A/C.
Some brands put up window decals to advertise their air-conditioned cars.
For cars not equipped with factory air, dealer-installed, under-dash units were popular.
In a 1971 cover story, The New York Times implicated air conditioning in the death of the convertible, postulating, “In the age of air conditioning, real air has lost its value.”
After Freon, used in air conditioners, was blamed for depleting the ozone layer, automakers were required to switch from R12 to the less harmful refrigerant R134a by 1996.
Dual-zone automatic climate control allows separate temperature settings for the driver and front passenger; some cars have additional zones for rear-seat passengers.
Volkswagen calls its manual air conditioning “Climatic;” automatic A / C is ” Climatronic.”
Today, more than 99 percent of all new cars are air conditioned.
There is no air conditioning in base versions of the Chevrolet Aveo; Honda Civic; Hyundai Accent and Elantra; Jeep Wrangler; Kia Forte and Rio; Mazda 3; Mitsubishi Lancer; Nissan Versa; and Toyota Tacoma.
Consumer Reports tests found that using a car’s air conditioner resulted in a loss of more than 3 mpg at highway speeds. Driving with the windows open had no measurable effect on fuel economy.