The History

of the
Automobile
1769
•Nicolas Joseph Cugnot, considered as the grandfather of
automobile, a military engineer demonstrate the first
propelled steam engine vehicle.
•It was designed to transport canons with top speed of
2.5 mph.
•The vehicle’s fire needed to relit, and its steam raised
again, every quarter of an hour or so, which considerably
reduced its overall speed and distance.
1801
•Richard Trevithick, relocated the boiler and added new
carriage. It was the first carriage with the top speed of
13 km/h.

1832
•Robert Davidson, built an electric locomotive that
attained a speed of 4 miles an hour.
•Electric cars used rechargeable batteries that powered a
small electric motor. The vehicles were heavy, slow,
expensive, and needed to stop for charging frequently.
1860
•Jean-Joseph Etienne Lenoir, invented a two-stroke,
internal combustion engine, that was fuelled by coal gas
and triggered by an electric spark-ignition.
•In 1863, one cylinder, internal combustion engine made a
test drive from Paris to Joinnville-le-Pont with top speed
of about 9km in 3 hours.

1861
•Nikolaus August Otto, built the first four stroke engine.
•Otto successfully developed the compressed charge
internal combustion engine with ran on petroleum gas and
this led to the modern internal combustion engine.
1885
•Karl Fredrick Benz, known as the founders of Mercedes-
Benz,
•He was the first to build the true automobile powered by
a gasoline engine called motowagen.
•The Motowagen, has 3 wheels, one cylinder, and a handle
instead of a steering wheel. The motowagen was the first
commercial automobile and considered as the first car.

1886
Gottlieb Daimler, designed the first four wheeled
automobile.
Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company,
builds his first automobile.
Daimler and Maybach, invented the first four-wheeled,
four stroke engine in Germany. It is also known as the
‘’Cansstatt-Daimler”.
1903
•Henry Ford, create the first modern assembly lines to
mass production of cars.
1908
•The introduction of Ford modern T automobile,
revolutionalized the transportation industries. It is the
first affordable automobile because of the automated
assembly line.
•15 million Model Ts had been manufactured. Workers on
the production line assembled the car just in ninety-
three minutes.
1910
•Cars made for racing purposes
•Delage, Auto Union, Mercedes-Benz, Delahaye, and
Bugatti constructing streamedline vehicles with engines
producing up to 450 kW(612hp), aided by multiple-stage
supercharging.
 1931
•Mercedes-Benz, introduced the first modern
independent front suspension system, which gave cars a
smoother ride and better handling. By making each front
wheel virtually independent of the other through
attached to a single axle, independent front suspension
minimizes the transfer of road shock from one wheel to
another.
1939
•The Nash Motor Company adds the first air
conditioning system to the car.

1940
•The first four-wheel drive, all purpose vehicle is
designed for the U.S. military. It is becomes known as
the Jeep.
1974
•Air bags is invented by John W. Hetrick of Newport,
PA , it becomes new car safety.

1996
•Due to the rising cost of gasoline and impact of global
climate change, zero-emission electric vehicles come back
auto showrooms. The first electric vehicles had been
designed in the early 1800s.

1997
•Starts the develop engines that uses more than one fuel
sources-hybrid engines. Honda and Toyota initially
introduced their petrol/electric hybrids to the Japanese
market, before releasing them in America and Europe in
2002.
 Thank you
Hope you
“Today all forms of automobile are available. From SUVs,
to Ferraris, from race cars to motor cycles the
automobile has revolutionized the world and will continue
to do so for a very long time. As car companies and

like it..
manufacturers strive for fuel efficient environmentally
friendly cars. “

Prepared by:
Jonnah Faith Bingil
BTLEd 2.1