We tell you the history of the automobile and the reasons that led to its creation. We also tell you how it evolved and the beginning of the automobile industry.
The automobile is one of the most successful inventions of human beings.
The history of the automobile
Also called a car, car or car, the automobile is a land vehicle and is one of the most successful human inventions. The history of the automobile involves the series of events, innovations and scientific and technological knowledge and its evolution continues to this day.
The engines went from steam to burning oil. There are even electric motors that compete with the efficiency of a fuel engine.
The word automobile comes from Greek and Latin: the word cars which means “by itself” and the word mobilis which means “that moves”.
Automobile background
Tesla’s work was indispensable for the emergence of the automobile.
The development of the automobile would not have been possible without the technological and industrial advances that the Industrial Revolution entailed. Among them, for example, the steam engine, whose greatest developer was the British James Wattwhich allowed the invention of trains and, at the same time, the first attempts at automobiles.
Other technologies essential to the emergence of the automobile were related to electricity. This phenomenon had been known since ancient times but was generated and exploited in modern terms from the last quarter of the 19th century. thanks to the research of scientists like GrammeTesla, Sprague, Graham Bell, among others.
Finally, Knowledge of fuels was necessary, especially the internal combustion engine. In the mid-19th century, when oil exploitation began in the world and the energy potential of this fossil substance became known, it was fully developed.
Why was the automobile created?
The car responded to the desire to transport materials or passengers over long distances and also at higher speeds. Previously There were carts pulled by robust animals, what is known as “blood traction”. This transport had the drawback of the animal’s physical limitations.
The mechanization promoted by the Industrial Revolution made it possible to create a machine with greater capacity and speed of movement, that does not tire and that can be mass-produced: the automobile.
Origin of the automobile
The Benz Patent-Motorwagen, from 1885, is considered the first automobile in history.
The invention of the automobile includes different stages:
- Steam engine stage. It was prior to the invention of the automobile, at the end of the 18th century, and its invention allowed the development of the first prototypes in the mid-1800s.
- Fuel engine stage. It was at the beginning of the 19th century and allowed the development of a car with an internal combustion engine based on gasoline, and from 1900 it became popular in the automotive industry.
- Electric motor stage. It was at the end of the 19th century. Despite the advantages of the electric motor that was Silent and lightweight, it failed to spread into the automotive industry due to the rapid discharge of the electric cells or batteries and the difficulty of recharging.
What is known today as an automobile (a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine and with electrical components) is accepted to be The first example in history was developed in Germanyby different engineers independently:
- 1885. Karl Benz designed his first model, called Benz Patent-Motorwagen in Mannheim. His wife traveled about 80 kilometers to the city of Profzheim in 1888, as a way to demonstrate her husband’s invention, which had been patented in 1886.
- 1889Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach independently designed their own car models in Stuttgart. However, Benz’s machine is considered to be the formal starting point for the automobile.
Steam engine stage
The steam car had the disadvantage of keeping the boiler hot.
The initial stage in the history of the automobile began with a steam engine. Around 1770, French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot created a vehicle that took advantage of steam engine technology, with an engine with two vertical cylinders and 50 liters of displacement.
With his second and improved prototype he managed to reach speeds of 4 km/h. However, had the first car accident in history when losing control of the device and crashing into a wall.
In 1771, Cugnot built a third version, which is still preserved, and which served as inspiration for William Murdoch, who built a similar steam car in 1784and Richard Trevithick, who did the same in 1801. These first vehicles made it possible to invent the handbrake, gears and steering wheel, but they had the disadvantage of having to keep their boiler hot.
fuel engine stage
The first tests with the petroleum combustion engine were carried out at the beginning of the 19th century, with relative success. Boats and motor models followed one another from 1807 onwards.. In 1860, the Belgian Etienne Lenoir successfully drove a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, powered by coal gas.
Lenoir’s car It mixed air and fuel and used an electric ignitiona two-stroke engine. This first model was used by Nikolaus Otto in 1876 to build and patent a four-stroke engine.
Based on this second model, Siegfried Marcus created the first “Marcus Car”with a gasoline-based internal combustion engine, equipped with a low-voltage ignition system that he patented in 1883.
The next step was taken by the German Karl Benz with his first patented automobiles in 1886, an event that is considered the formal beginning of the history of the modern automobile. Starting in 1900, the construction of these automobiles was already a common occurrence in France and the United States. The foundations were laid for the beginning of the automotive industry.
Electric motor stage
The electric car was quieter and lighter than steam engines.
Between 1832 and 1839, Robert Anderson invented the first electric vehiclewhich was powered by non-rechargeable electric cells. At the same time, similar devices were in circulation, the work of American engineers and others presented at the International Electricity Exhibition in Paris.
It was valued that It was quieter and less heavy than steam enginesbut there was no way at that time to solve the dilemma of gradual discharge of electric cells. However, Camille Jenatzy’s “bolide” of 1889 reached the speed of 105 km/h, a record for that time.
Beginning of the automotive industry
Henry Ford created the Model T in 1908.
The first automobile construction companies emerged at the end of the 19th century: the French Panhard et Levassor in 1889 and Peugeot in 1891. Although France was the pioneer in the invention of the automobile, The United States gave the automobile industry its maximum potentialthanks to the ideas of Henry Ford.
Ford created the “T” modelswhich were produced in large quantities in 1908, thanks to the application of assembly lines, an innovative system that has since been installed at the heart of human industries, the so-called “Fordism”.
Henry Ford, Henry Royce and Ettore Bugatti are considered the innovators of the automotive industry, responsible for its growth, expansion and global fame, in what was called the “golden age” of motorsport.
At that time Ford also competed with Oldsmobile and Cadillacwhich later merged into General Motors, founded by William C. Durant in 1908. The Dodge Brothers made their presence felt in 1914, anticipating the birth of Chrysler in 1925.
Shortly after, in Germany in 1926, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft of Stuttgart mergedthe manufacturer of Mercedes, and Benz & Cie, in charge of Benz automobiles. This is how the legendary Mercedes-Benz came into being.
Importance of the racing car
One of the aspects that pushed the automotive industry forward the most was motor racing, the sport linked to the automobile. Speed and safety contests They started very early, in 1894.
In 1895 the first major automobile race took place., from Paris to Bordeaux and back, between June 11 and 13. The winner was Émile Levassor with a Panhard et Levassor with an average speed of 24.5 km/h over a route of 1175 km.
These types of contests gave enormous visibility to the automobile and the industry behind italthough there was no shortage of accidents that highlighted the dangers they also entailed.
Future of the automobile
The future of the automobile points to clean and renewable energies.
The future of the automobile is uncertainThere does not seem to be a new car model that will drastically replace the existing ones. However, a radical change is necessary to stop accelerating the ecological crisis resulting, among other causes, from the burning of fossil fuels that destroy ecosystems and contribute to climate change. In addition, fossil fuels are a non-renewable energy source.
The response of a change from the industry and the governments of the different countries of the world is still scarce. Meanwhile, several companies are investing in research and testing to develop electric cars efficient, such as those created by Tesla Motors Inc.
Timeline of automobile history
- 1885. Benz invents the first automobile with a combustion engine.
- 1890. The Peugeot type 2 prototype is announced.
- 1893. The Benz Victoria, the first racing car, is marketed.
- 1898. The first automobile is built renault.
- 1900. Car sales begin in France and the USA.
- 1910. The factory is inaugurated Highland Parkin Detroit USA, of Ford Motor Company.
- 1920. The first sedan car appears.
- 1928. Debuts on Plymouth as the mid-priced model car.
- 1964. Ford conquers the market with its cars Mustang.
- 1990. Japanese brands flood the Western market.
- 2000. Sling announces in the USA on Insighta gasoline-electric hybrid.