Who Invented The Automobile?

Sometimes you may wonder who invented the automobile. This is actually one of the most contested claims in history as many people have created very different vehicles that move under very different means. Some of the earliest thinking and designing of things that may be considered automobiles were designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo da Vinci didn't go on to create any big automobiles during his time, but inventors carried on his ideas and some new ones to create automobiles powered by steam, electricity and eventually, internal combustion.

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot could be considered the inventor of automobiles that could actually carry people back in about 1770. Cugnot used a steam engine to power a three-wheeled machine that was called a wagon at the time. It was designed for military use by the French but deemed pretty impractical for its hulking size and lack of speed. William Murdoch and Richard Trevithick went on to take these ideas to Great Britain and make streets cars using the steam engine technique. Soon, innovations were being created left and right such as brakes and steering (two essential ingredients to modern automobiles).

Electric vehicles were next to be invented. The electric motor took many developments and twists and turns throughout the 1800s, but Robert Anderson was the first one to use the electric power from these engines to power a fully electric car. The battery power was not rechargeable but still well ahead of its time. 

Lastly, there was the creation of the internal combustion engine using gasoline power. Karl Friedrich Benz was the first inventor to find the right fuel for this job and use it to his advantage by getting patents and manufacturing an automobile that would bear his name to this very day. Many evolutions and innovations have come since Benz started his car business back in 1885, but the automobile still generally functions on his same structure.