What is a Car?
The first steam-powered vehicle was probably first designed by Ferdinand Verbiest, circa 1672. He designed a 65 cm toy vehicle for the Chinese empire, which could not carry passengers.[1][2][3] It is not known whether the vehicle model made by Verbiest was ever produced or not.[2]
In 1752, Leonty Shamshurenkov, a Russian national, constructed a human-powered vehicle. He also completes his vehicle with an odometer. The vehicle he made was similar to a sleigh.[4]
The first steam-powered vehicles were built in the late 18th century. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot successfully demonstrated the three-wheeled vehicle in 1769. The first steam-powered vehicle, perhaps the best known steam engine upgrade, was developed in Birmingham, England by the Lunar Society. And also in Birmingham the first gasoline powered car was made in Britain in 1896 by Frederick William Lanchester who also patented the disc brake. In the 1890s, ethanol was used as a power source in the United States.
