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Leonardo Da Vinci invents the self propelled car, which is never actually made. This self-propelled car is more similar to a cart and does not have a seat. In 2004, a replica of da Vinci’s car is finally created and can be seen at the Insitute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence, Italy.
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This vehicle, invented by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot is a tractor for the French army. It has three wheels and moves at about 2.5 miles per hour.
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An internal combustion engine which uses a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen is invented by Francois Isaac de Rivaz in Switzerland. He also designs a car for the engine, the first automobile powered by internal combustion. However, his design was proven unsuccessful.
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English engineer and inventor Samuel Brown invents an internal combustion engine with separate combustion and working cylinders, and is used to briefly power a vehicle in London.
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Belgian engineer Jean-Joseph-Etienne Lenoir invents the “horseless carriage.” It uses an internal combustion engine and can move at about 3 miles per hour. This is the first commercially successful internal combustion engine.
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German engine designer Karl Benz builds the first true automobile powered by a gasoline engine. It has three wheels and looked similar to a carriage. Benz copyrighted his invention on the 29th of January, 1886. In 1926, his company (Benz&Co) merged with Daimler Motoren Gesellschaf to create the Daimler-Benz company, which created cars with the Mercedes brand.
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A steering wheel is designed to replace the steering tiller.
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Ferdinand Porsche - at the age of 18, invents the Lohne-Porsche Mixte Hybrid - the first hybrid engine.
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Henry Ford produces the Model T. It had a 20-horsepower, four-cylinder engine, reached a top speed of about 45 miles per hour, covered 13-21 mpg and weighed 544 kg.
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The use of natural gas began in the Po River Valley of Italy in the 1930s, followed by New Zealand in the 1980s
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The first Auto Car, a type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, was developed in 1932 by two Brazilian engineers, José Braz Araripe and Fernando Lehly Lemos.
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The airbag specified for automobile use traces its origins to air-filled bladders as early as 1951
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The state of Wisconsin creates a seat belt law. It calls for the seatbelt to be a standard requirement in automobiles.
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The rocket car "Blue Flame" tops 1000 km/h in Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA.
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The vehicle tracked white street markers, which were interpreted by two cameras on the vehicle, using an analog computer for signal processing. The vehicle reached speeds up to 30 kilometres per hour
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In the early 1990s, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) began a push for more fuel-efficient, lower-emissions vehicles, with the ultimate goal being a move to zero-emissions vehicles such as electric vehicles.
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Passage of the federal Energy Policy Act of 1992 encourages alternative- fuel vehicles. These include automobiles run with mixtures of alcohols and gasoline, with natural gas, or by some combination of conventional fuel and battery power.
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The car Global Positioning System, or GPS, is introduced.
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Audi stated that its latest A8 would be automated at speeds of up to 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph) using its "Audi AI." The driver would not have to do safety checks such as frequently gripping the steering wheel.
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In December 2018, Waymo is the first to commercialize a fully autonomous taxi service in the U.S.
