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The engine evolved as engineers created two-and four-cycle combustion engines and began using gasoline. The first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use—and the first car in series production appeared in 1886, when Carl Benz developed a gasoline-powered automobile and made several identical copies.
Tracks would be naturally created at points of high traffic density. As animals were domesticated, horses, oxen and donkeys became an element in track-creation. With the growth of trade, tracks were often flattened or widened to accommodate animal traffic (hollow way or drover's road). Later, the travois, a frame used to drag loads, was developed.
The engine needed to be replenished with water in addition to fuel. Most vehicles had metal wheels and less than excellent traction. They were heavy. In most cases the user had to do their own maintenance. Top speed was low, about 20 miles (32 km) per hour, and acceleration was poor. Steam vehicle technology evolved over time.
Internal combustion engines date back to between the 10th and 13th centuries, when the first rocket engines were invented in China. Following the first commercial steam engine (a type of external combustion engine) by Thomas Savery in 1698, various efforts were made during the 18th century to develop equivalent internal combustion engines.
1860 – Lenoir 2 cycle engine [8] 1872 – Brayton Engine; 1877 – Nicolaus Otto patents a four-stroke internal combustion engine (U.S. patent 194,047). [9] 1882 – James Atkinson invents the Atkinson cycle engine, now common in some hybrid vehicles. 1885 – Gottlieb Daimler patents the first supercharger.
1885 – Karl Benz invents the first car powered by an internal combustion engine, he called it the Benz Patent Motorwagen. [29] 1887 - The first Battery electric multiple unit (battery rail car) was used on the Royal Bavarian State Railways. [30] 1888 - Flocken Elektrowagen built by German inventor Andreas Flocken, the first true electric car.
The first version of modern controlled-access highways evolved during the first half of the 20th century. The Long Island Motor Parkway on Long Island, New York, opened in 1908 as a private venture, was the world's first limited-access roadway.
The history of gasoline started around the invention of internal combustion engines suitable for use in transportation applications. The so-called Otto engines were developed in Germany during the last quarter of the 19th century. The fuel for these early engines was a relatively volatile hydrocarbon obtained from coal gas.