Regan Brown
The evolution of car fuel is a fascinating journey, from the early 19th-century experiments with internal combustion engines and electric motors to the dominance of gasoline and diesel in the 20th century. The quest for practical transportation fuels that are energy-dense, inexpensive, and easy to handle has driven engineers and inventors to explore a variety of options. Let's delve into the history of what fuelled the early cars and how we got to where we are today.
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What You'll Learn
Early electric cars
The history of electric cars goes back to the early 1800s, with the invention of the first model electric vehicle attributed to multiple people. In 1828, Hungarian priest and physicist Ányos Jedlik invented an early electric motor and created a small model car powered by it. Crude electric carriages were also first invented in the late 1820s and 1830s. Around 1859, rechargeable batteries emerged, making electric cars a more viable concept. By the 1880s, inventor Thomas Parker helped deploy electric-powered trams and built prototype electric cars in England.
In the late 19th century, electric cars began to gain traction. In 1888, William Morrison built an electric carriage, which he showcased at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Morrison's vehicle had front-wheel drive, 4 horsepower, and a top speed of 20 mph. It featured 24 battery cells that needed recharging every 50 miles. Around the same time, electric taxis started appearing in cities like London and New York. These electric cabs, introduced in 1897, were quieter and lacked the vibration and smell of their gasoline competitors.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a surge of automotive inventions, with steam-powered cars in the lead, followed by electric and gas-powered vehicles. Electric cars faced challenges due to the limitations of battery technology during this period, including low energy density and durability issues. However, electric vehicles had their advantages, and they proved their capabilities in early motorsports. In 1899, Belgian Camille Jenatzy broke the 100 km/h and 60 mph barriers in his electric racing car, "La Jamais Contente."
In the early 1900s, electric cars began to decline in popularity for private use due to their high cost, low top speed, and limited range compared to internal combustion engine vehicles. However, they continued to be used for loading, freight, and public transport, particularly rail vehicles. Electric cars also found a niche market among upper-class customers, who appreciated their luxurious interiors and lack of noise and vibration. By the early 1910s, electric car sales peaked, with a significant presence in the United States, where 33,842 electric cars were registered. Despite the early promise of electric cars, the discovery of easily accessible crude petroleum in the late 1800s hindered their widespread adoption for the next century.
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Hydrogen-fuelled engines
Early cars, such as Karl Benz's Motorwagen in 1886, predominantly ran on gasoline. However, some engineers and inventors experimented with alternative fuels, including coal dust and moss spores.
Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (HFCVs) use an electric motor to turn the wheels, similar to battery-electric cars. However, instead of a battery, they are powered by a fuel-cell stack where pure hydrogen combines with oxygen from the air, generating electricity and water vapour. This makes HFCVs technically a series hybrid, or more specifically, a fuel-cell hybrid electric vehicle (FCHEV).
The main advantage of hydrogen-fuelled engines is that they produce zero emissions, with water vapour as the only exhaust product. This is in contrast to gasoline engines, which emit carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, NOx, particulates, and unburned hydrocarbons.
Creating pure hydrogen for vehicles requires a significant amount of energy to "crack" compounds like natural gas into pure H2, with CO2 as a byproduct. While most hydrogen today is derived from fossil fuels, it can also be produced through electrolysis using electricity from renewable sources, making it a more sustainable option.
Several car companies have offered hydrogen-powered cars for sale, including the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell, the Hyundai Nexo SUV, and the Toyota Mirai. However, sales of these vehicles have been relatively low compared to electric vehicles. As of mid-2022, there were fewer than 17,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles on U.S. roads, all located in California, the only state with a network of retail hydrogen fuelling stations.
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Gasoline-powered cars
The Duryea Brothers from Wyoming, Illinois invented the first gasoline-powered automobile. By the late 19th century, gasoline was the preferred energy source for automobiles, although some preferred batteries. However, batteries at the time were lacking in energy density and durability, and the limited range and high cost of early electric vehicles prevented them from gaining mainstream acceptance.
In 1907, Komanosuke Uchiyama produced the first entirely Japanese-made gasoline-engine car, and in 1908, the Ford Model T became the era's most widely produced and available four-seater car. The Ford Model T used a planetary transmission and had a pedal-based control system. It was proclaimed the most influential car of the 20th century in the international Car of the Century awards.
Gasoline and diesel oil rose to dominance in the 20th century due to their energy density, inexpensiveness, and ease of handling. However, gasoline engines have evolved over time, and in the 2010s, electric cars began to gain popularity again, with countries like Norway and Iceland quickly replacing gasoline cars with electric vehicles.
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Rudolf Diesel's compression ignition design
Rudolf Diesel was a German inventor and mechanical engineer born in Paris, France, in 1858. He spent his life trying to create the most efficient motor possible, which ultimately gave birth to the diesel motor. Diesel's design, also known as the compression ignition design, did not require an externally applied ignition to the mixture of air and fuel inside. Instead, it used the compression of air inside the cylinder and heating to ignite the fuel, which would be brought into contact with the air just before the end of the compression period. This design aimed for greater efficiency than was available with existing engines at the time.
Diesel's passion for engine design began at a young age, and after graduating from the Royal Bavarian Polytechnic of Munich, Germany, with top honours, he began working as a refrigerator engineer for the Linde Ice Machine Company in Paris. However, his passion for engines never faded, and he continued to work on engine designs in his free time. In 1892, Diesel completed a design for an efficient thermal engine, for which he received a patent a year later.
Diesel's design was a significant departure from standard internal combustion engines, which required a spark to ignite the air-fuel mixture. His engine used fuel injected at the end of the compression cycle, which was then ignited by the high air temperature caused by the compression stroke. This allowed the engine to be smaller and weigh less than most contemporary steam engines, and it did not require additional fuel sources. The fuel efficiency of Diesel's engine was measured at 75% above the 10% theoretical efficiency of steam engines.
From 1893 to 1897, Diesel worked with Heinrich von Buz, the director of Maschinenfabrik Augsburg in Augsburg, to test and develop his ideas. During this period, Diesel created a prototype engine, but early tests had dangerous results, with one of his engines exploding and nearly killing him. Despite this setback, Diesel worked diligently to improve his engine model, and in 1897, he conducted the first successful test of his engine. Diesel's engine was quickly adopted for use in cars, trucks, boats, and various industrial applications, and it remains the basis for today's diesel engines.
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Crude oil
In the early days of automobile development, engineers and inventors experimented with a variety of fuels, including coal dust, moss spores, and hydrogen gas mixtures. These early attempts at creating internal combustion engines were often hindered by the lack of suitable liquid fuels. Despite these challenges, some of the earliest engines used gas mixtures, such as the Swiss engineer François Isaac de Rivaz's engine in 1806, which was powered by the internal combustion of a hydrogen and oxygen mixture.
In 1859, Edwin Drake dug the first crude oil well in Pennsylvania and distilled the oil to produce kerosene for lighting. Although gasoline was also produced in the distillation process, it was discarded as it had no apparent use at the time. It wasn't until the invention of the automobile in 1892 that gasoline, derived from crude oil, was recognized as a valuable fuel source for vehicles.
By 1900, the automotive industry had already established early centers in several countries, including Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Italy, and even Australia. The export trade had also begun, with motor cars being exported to British colonies and other parts of the world.
By 1920, there were 9 million vehicles powered by gasoline on the roads worldwide, and service stations selling gasoline were opening up everywhere. Gasoline's dominance continued into the 1950s, with cars becoming bigger and faster, leading to the addition of lead to improve engine performance. However, health concerns led to the introduction of unleaded gasoline in the 1970s, and by January 1, 1996, leaded gasoline for on-road vehicles was completely phased out in the United States.
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Frequently asked questions
Early cars ran on a variety of fuels, including gasoline, batteries, coal dust, moss spores, liquid hydrocarbons, hydrogen, and electricity.
By the time Karl Benz rolled out his Motorwagen in 1886, gasoline was the preferred energy source. However, it wasn't until 1892, with the invention of the automobile, that gasoline was recognized as a valuable fuel.
The batteries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries lacked energy density and durability. Early electric vehicles had limited range and high costs, preventing them from gaining mainstream acceptance. Hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engines were also tested during this period but failed to gain widespread adoption.
Gasoline offered several advantages over alternative fuels, including high energy density, low cost, and ease of handling. It was also easily accessible due to the discovery of crude petroleum in the late 1800s.
