A horseless carriage
Before the automobile, people travelled by foot, horse, carriage, bicycle, boat or train. Cars changed where people lived, how they worked and what cities looked like.
Early self-propelled vehicles
| Year | Development | Inventor |
|---|---|---|
| 1769 | Steam-powered carriage that could carry heavy loads | Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (France) |
| 1867 | Steam buggy, one of the first in Canada, built in Stanstead, Quebec | Henry Seth Taylor |
| 1876 | Four-stroke internal combustion engine | Nikolaus Otto (Germany) |
| 1885–1886 | First practical gasoline-powered car, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen | Karl Benz (Germany) |
| 1888 | First long-distance car trip (about 100 km) | Bertha Benz, Karl’s wife |
| 1890s | Early electric cars were popular in cities | Various makers |
Bertha Benz’s trip was a clever publicity stunt. Along the way, she cleaned a fuel line with a hatpin and used her garter as insulation. She also bought fuel at a pharmacy, making it the first "gas station."
How a gasoline engine works
Most cars of the 1900s used an internal combustion engine. Fuel burns inside cylinders.
The four-stroke cycle:
| Stroke | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Intake | Piston moves down; fuel and air are drawn into the cylinder |
| 2. Compression | Piston moves up, squeezing the mixture |
| 3. Power | A spark plug ignites the mixture; the explosion pushes the piston down |
| 4. Exhaust | Piston moves up, pushing out burned gases |
The pistons turn a crankshaft, which sends power through the transmission to the wheels.
Energy changes: chemical energy (fuel) → thermal energy → kinetic energy
Henry Ford and the assembly line
Early cars were handmade and expensive. In 1908, Henry Ford introduced the Model T, a simple, sturdy car. In 1913, Ford began using a moving assembly line.
| Before the assembly line | After |
|---|---|
| About 12 hours to build a car | About 90 minutes |
| Price over $800 | Price dropped below $300 by the 1920s |
More than 15 million Model Ts were sold. Cars became affordable for ordinary families.
Cars in Canada
- The Ford Motor Company of Canada was founded in 1904 in Walkerville (now Windsor), Ontario.
- The McLaughlin Motor Car Company in Oshawa, Ontario, became the foundation of General Motors of Canada.
- The 1965 Canada–U.S. Auto Pact made southern Ontario one of the world’s major car-making regions.
- Canada also invented the snowmobile: Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Quebec built the first commercial snowmobiles in the 1930s, and the Ski-Doo in 1959.
Effects of the automobile
| Positive | Negative |
|---|---|
| Freedom to travel anywhere | Traffic accidents and injuries |
| Faster delivery of goods | Air pollution and smog |
| Jobs in car making, repair and road building | Greenhouse gas emissions |
| Growth of suburbs | Urban sprawl and traffic congestion |
| Emergency vehicles | Dependence on oil |
Transportation is one of Canada’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Safety improvements
| Feature | Introduced |
|---|---|
| Windshield wipers | Early 1900s |
| Seat belts (three-point) | 1959 (Volvo) |
| Airbags | 1970s–1980s |
| Anti-lock brakes | 1970s–1980s |
| Backup cameras and lane assist | 2000s–2010s |
The future: electric and automated cars
Electric vehicles (EVs) use batteries and electric motors instead of gasoline engines. They have no tailpipe emissions and are much more energy-efficient. Interestingly, electric cars existed in the 1890s but lost out to gasoline cars, which could travel farther.
Today, EVs are growing quickly thanks to better batteries. Canada has set targets for all new light-duty vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035, though the timeline has been under review. Engineers are also developing self-driving cars that use cameras, radar and computers to navigate.
Common mistakes
- Thinking Henry Ford invented the car. He made it affordable with mass production.
- Thinking electric cars are new.
- Thinking the engine burns fuel outside. "Internal combustion" means burning happens inside.
Try it yourself
- Build a balloon-powered car from a bottle, straws and bottle caps.
- Act out an assembly line with classmates building paper "cars." Compare with building alone.
- Compare the costs and benefits of a gasoline car and an electric car in a chart.
Quick recap
- Karl Benz built the first practical gasoline car in 1885–1886.
- Internal combustion engines use a four-stroke cycle.
- Henry Ford’s assembly line made cars affordable.
- Cars brought freedom and jobs, but also pollution and accidents.
- Electric and automated vehicles are shaping the future.