The
automobile has revolutionized transportation in our world. It has allowed
people to travel faster and much further than ever before. And what’s more, in
just about 50 years it had become affordable to the common man. But why was there
a need for automobiles? Where did it come from? And which was the world’s first
automobile?
Horses!
In
the early days, animals like horses and bullocks where used to provide the
power required for transportation of goods and people. Horses, though they are
nice and all needed to be taken care of and provided food and rest. In an
increasingly modernizing world, people did not have time or convenience for
animals like these. Hence, there was a need for an automotive, but the
technology was not present. Since the early 18th century, people
have been experimenting and working on their wagons or carriages to try and
find a way to power them.
The steam engine
The steam engine was the most promising technology to build an automobile with initially. The steam engine is an external combustion engine that uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force is transformed, by a connecting rod and flywheel, into rotational force for work. In fact, in 1781, James Watt had perfected the engine so well that it was ready to be commercially used. In 1769, the first steam car was built by Nikola Joseph Kunal. It was built for military and commercial uses and was powerful and stable. But it was also heavy, costly and nearly impossible to steer. It was not until after Richard Trevithick had developed the use of high-pressure steam, around 1800, that mobile steam engines became a practical proposition. The first half of the 19th century saw great progress in steam vehicle design. But it was soon realized that it is highly inefficient to use steam engine for something like a car commercially, so it never really took off. Steam engines were huge, costly and required heating for 45 minutes before use in cold weather. On the other hand, steam engines proved to be vital in the development of locomotive and marine engines.
The Steam Car by Nikola Joseph Kunal
Electric Cars!
If
there ever was a perfect application for the phrase “ahead of its time,” the
idea of an electric car is probably it. Sure, electric vehicles may be the future. But
despite growing interest and developments today, the concept of electric vehicles
is just a resurrection of a method of commuting that first materialized in the
1800s. The first practical electric vehicle was a small locomotive built by
Thomas Davenport in 1835. Due to the fact that electric cars where easy to drive
and were noiseless, it witnessed excessive demand from all around. But
electric cars were not viable since chargeable batteries where not invented
till 1859. The first truly viable electric car was only built in 1880. In 1899,
the La Jamais Contente (English: The Never Satisfied) became the
first road vehicle to go over 100 kilometers per hour. It was a Belgian
electric car fitted with Michelin tires and had two motors that generated 68
hp. 40 percent of all the commercial cars were electric powered in 1900.
Thomas Davenport’s
electric car
Karl Benz and the Internal Combustion
Engine
Throughout the 18th and 19th century, many scientists and engineers contributed to the development of internal combustion engines. It started off when John Barber developed the gas turbine in 1979. In 1807, Swiss engineer Francois Isaac de Riva invented a hydrogen based internal combustion engine and powered the engine by electric spark. In 1808, De Rivaz fitted his invention to a primitive working vehicle – "the world's first internal combustion powered automobile". The problem with hydrogen combustion was similar then as it is today! It’s too explosive, and if something breaks down, all you can do is hope that the catastrophe does not take your life! In the same year, French engineers Nicephore Niepce (who went on to invent photography) and his brother Claude Niepce ran a prototype internal combustion engine, using controlled dust explosions, the Pyreolophore. This engine powered a boat on the Saone river, France. A lot of other innovations came upfront throughout the century. The real game changer happened in 1879 when German inventor Karl Friedrich Benz patented the reliable 2 stroke engine.
The year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the modern car when Karl Benz patented his invention. When he made his patent, he called it the Benz Patent Motorcar! It had a single cylinder, two stroke engine that was connected to the flywheel and drive axle. It used ligroin (gasoline) to power the engine. These were available back then in pharmacies. They sold it as a stain remover or a washing agent. A battery was used to ignite the air and gasoline mixture with an electric spark. The car also had a water cooling system with oil reserve to provide for lubrication. The flywheel was used to start the car. The top speed of this vehicle was 16 kilometers per hour.
It took Benz three years to convince people that his invention was suitable for daily life. His wife Bertha Benz not only financed all of his research and development, but also completed the first ever cross country automobile journey in 1888, from Manheim to Ford Simon and back in two days to make people trust the Benz Motorcar! While at it, she even visited her mother! Benz started mass producing his car from 1888 and thus was the first major competition to the electric cars.
Benz Patent Motorcar
The fate of the electric car
Just 17 years later, in 1903, the Mercedes Simplex 60HP could hit a top speed of 109 kilometers per hour! It had a 4 speed transmission with 1 reverse gear. Around the 1930s, cars had already hit the 200 kilometers per hour barrier. By 1940s, less than 55 years since Benz made his invention, cars had become incredibly fast. It could travel at a speed of 300 to 400 kilometers an hour.
The IC engine cars were not just fast, but they became really affordable and comfortable to use. Good network of roads were beginning to be built, and the car suspension was improvised, which meant the vibrations were bearable. The external flywheel was made internal and electric switches were introduced to start the vehicle. Driving became easy and fun! Gasoline and diesel were cheap and easily available.
In 1913, Henry Ford discovered the assembly line for mass production. He used this to improve sales of his affordable to common people car, the Model T. Soon other manufacturers like General Motors and Volkswagen started mass producing affordable cars. The IC engine never looked back ever since until recently. For comparison, a
gasoline car during in 1913 in New York, United States, cost $650, while an
electric roadster sold for nearly three times the price at $1,750.
On
the other hand, scientists and inventors like Thomas Alva Edison, who believed
electric cars were the way forward, worked furiously to develop a rechargeable,
safe, economically viable and small sized batteries with long range and power
(phew!) to compete with the combustion cars. The electric car did have its
advantages, despite all of the factors working against its success. But in the
end, electricity lost out to affordability and simplicity. The era of the
electric car ended, with the 1930s onward seeing fewer and fewer on the road.
By 1935, electric car were completely wiped out from the commercial market. The
next commercial success for an electric car would only come in 1997, when
Toyota launched their hybrid Prius. Whether we’re in for another demise of the
electric car remains to be seen, but it looks as if the era of charging cars is
here for the long run this time around.
So which really
was the world’s first automotive?
The answer to this question is dependent on what one is
looking for. Technically the first automotive to ever be built was Nikola
Joseph Kunal’s steam car in 1769, although it would probably just crash into
your own building every time you try to park it. The first practical car was an
electric car built in 1835 by Thomas Davenport, although this was hardly used
as it used non rechargeable, costly batteries. Rechargeable batteries were
being used later on but it was not safe and affordable to all until very late.
When you look at things, it was indeed Karl Benz who
revolutionized transportation with his Benz Patent Motorcar. It was simple,
affordable, safe (well, not exactly) and usable at the time. His success paved
the way for the production of much more cheap and comfortable vehicles like the
Model T and VW Beetle among others. Therefore, having created the first true
automobile, it can be rightfully said that Karl Benz was the father of the
automobile!
References
(links):
https://jalopnik.com/why-electric-cars-ruled-the-roads-100-years-ago-1771719651/amp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Jamais_Contente#:~:text=La%20Jamais%20Contente%20(English%3A%20The,torpedo%2Dshaped%20bodywork%20and%20batteries.
https://jalopnik.com/how-henry-ford-and-thomas-edison-killed-the-electric-ca-5564999
https://www.wired.com/story/general-motors-electric-cars-plan-gm/
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