The history of Automobiles Essay Example for Free

The history of Automobiles Essay Automobiles also known as Cars, Trucks and SUV’s are a very important part of our everyday lives. Automobiles have been around a lot longer than most people think. In Europe, automobiles date back to as early as the late 1700’s. European engineers began thinking of developing the first automobile to make life easier. By the mid 1800’s they began to think over how the automobile would run. Some manufactures tried using stream, combustion, and electrical motors to run their prototypes. The steam engine was invented in the early 18th century and has been applied to a variety of practical uses. But one of the most important ways steam was used was to power an automobile. The first steam powered automobile was built by built by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot. It was used by the French Army to haul artillery at a speed of 2 1/2 mph on only three wheels. The vehicle had to stop every ten to fifteen minutes to build up steam power. The steam engine and boiler were separate from the rest of the vehicle and placed in the front for easier maintenance. The combustion engine was invented in the late 1600’s by Dutch physicist Christian Huygens. He found that using a combustion substance such as kerosene or gasoline. He found that this type method to power a automobile was much more effective than a steam powered because it could go much faster and was able to have enough power to be able to do what was required. Today we still use combustion to power our automobiles, and it is expected that by the year 2020 most automobiles will be electrical powered to save are planet from globe warming and ozone destruction. The electric engine on an automobile was not very popular until recent years ago. But the engine itself was invented back in the early 1900’s and had many advantages over their competitors. They did not have the vibration, smell, and noise associated with gasoline automobiles. Changing gears on gasoline automobile was the most difficult part of driving, while electric automobiles did not require gear changes. While steam-powered automobiles also had no gear shifting, they suffered from long start-up times of up to 45 minutes on cold mornings. The steam automobiles had less range before needing water than an electrics range on a single charge. Now as time progresses the electric automobiles are becoming more popular especially hybrid models which use both combustion and electricity. Now a day almost every family has one or two or even three automobiles and purchases a new one every two years. Automobiles are becoming more and more popular as the years go by, and are becoming more fuel efficient to run and have more options available than the year before, and are a very important part of our everyday lives in order to transport ourselves around more efficiently than ever before.