Steam car
A steam car is a car propelled by a steam engine. A steam engine is an external combustion engine, whereas the gasoline and diesel engines that eventually became standard are internal combustion engines. ECEs have a lower thermal efficiency, but carbon monoxide production is more readily regulated.
The first experimental steam-powered cars were built in the 18th and 19th centuries, but it was not until after Richard Trevithick developed the use of high-pressure steam around 1800 that mobile steam engines became a practical proposition. By the 1850s there was a flurry of new steam car manufacturers.
Development was hampered by adverse legislation as well as the rapid development of internal combustion engine technology in the 1900s, leading to the commercial demise of steam-powered vehicles. Relatively few remained in use after the Second World War. Many of these vehicles were acquired by enthusiasts for preservation.
The search for renewable energy sources has led to an occasional resurgence of interest in using steam technology to power road vehicles.
Technology
While gasoline-powered ICE cars have an operational thermal efficiency of 15% to 30%, early automotive steam units were capable of only about half this efficiency. A significant benefit of the ECE is that the fuel burner can be configured for very low emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and unburned carbon in the exhaust, thus avoiding pollution.The greatest technical challenges to the steam car have focused on its boiler. This represents much of the total mass of the vehicle, making the car heavy, and requires careful attention from the driver, although even the cars of 1900 had considerable automation to manage this. The single largest restriction is the need to supply feedwater to the boiler. This must either be carried and frequently replenished, or the car must also be fitted with a condenser, a further weight and inconvenience.
Steam-powered and electric cars outsold gasoline-powered cars in the United States prior to the invention of the electric starter, since internal combustion cars relied on a hand crank to start the engine, which was difficult and occasionally dangerous to use, as improper cranking could cause a backfire capable of breaking the arm of the operator. Electric cars were popular to some extent, but had a short range, and could not be charged on the road if the batteries ran low.
Once working pressure was attained, early steam cars could be instantly driven off with high acceleration, but they typically take several minutes to start from cold, plus time to get the burner to operating temperature. To overcome this, development has been directed toward flash boilers, which heat a much smaller quantity of water to get the vehicle started, and in the case of Doble cars, spark ignition kerosene burners.
The steam car does have advantages over internal combustion-powered cars, although most of these are now less important than in the early 20th century. The engine is smaller and lighter than an internal combustion engine. It is also better-suited to the speed and torque characteristics of the axle, thus avoiding the need for the heavy and complex transmission required for an internal combustion engine. The steam car is also quieter, even without a silencer.
History
Early history
The first steam-powered vehicle was supposedly built in 1679 by Ferdinand Verbiest, a Flemish Jesuit in China. The vehicle was a toy for the Chinese Emperor. While not intended to carry passengers, if it was invented, Verbiest's device might have been the first ever engine powered vehicle. Also it seems that the Belgian vehicle served as an inspiration for the Italian Grimaldi and the French Nolet steam carriage successor. A French inventor, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, built the first working self-propelled land based mechanical vehicle in two versions, one in 1769 and one in 1771 for use by the French Army. William Murdoch built and operated a steam carriage in model form in 1784. In 1791 he built a larger steam carriage which he had to abandon to do other work. Also William Symington built a steam carriage in 1786. There is an unsubstantiated story that a pair of Yorkshiremen, engineer Robert Fourness and his cousin, physician James Ashworth had a steam car running in 1788, after being granted a British patent No.1674 of December 1788. An illustration of it even appeared in Hergé's book Tintin raconte l'histoire de l'automobile. The London Steam Carriage was built by Richard Trevithick in 1803 and ran successfully in London, but the venture failed to attract interest and soon folded up. An amphibious steam car was built by Oliver Evans in 1805. The first substantiated steam car for personal use was that of Josef Božek in 1815. He was followed by Julius Griffith in 1821, Timothy Burstall and John Hill in 1824 and Thomas Blanchard in 1825. Over thirty years passed before there was a flurry of steam cars from 1850s onwards with Dudgeon, Roper and Spencer from the United States, Leonard and Taylor from Canada, Rickett, Austin, Catley and Ayres from England, Bordino and Manzetti from Italy, others followed with Bollée and Lejeune from France, Thury from Switzerland and Kemna from Germany.This early period also saw the first repossession of an automobile in 1867 and the first getaway car the same year, both by Francis Curtis of Newburyport, Massachusetts.
The 1880s saw the rise of the first larger scale manufacturers, particularly in France, the first being Bollée followed by De Dion-Bouton, Whitney, Olds, Serpollet and Peugeot.
1890s Commercial Manufacture
The 1890s were dominated by the formation of numerous car manufacturing companies. The internal combustion engine was in its infancy, whereas steam power was well established. Electric powered cars were becoming available but suffered from their inability to travel longer distances.The majority of steam-powered car manufacturers from this period were from the United States. The more notable of these were Clark from 1895 to 1909, Locomobile from 1899 to 1903 when it switched to gasoline engines, and Stanley from 1897 to 1924. As well as England and France, other countries also made attempts to manufacture steam cars: Cederholm of Sweden, Malevez of Belgium, Schöche of Germany, and Herbert Thomson of Australia.
Of all the new manufacturers from the 1890s, only four continued to make steam cars after 1910. They were Stanley and Waverley of the United States, Buard of France, and Miesse of Belgium.
Volume Production 1900 to 1913
There were a large number of new companies formed in the period from 1898 to 1905. Steam cars outnumbered other forms of propulsion among very early cars. In the U.S. in 1902, 485 of 909 new car registrations were steamers. From 1899, Mobile had ten branches and 58 dealers across the U.S. The center of U.S. steamer production was New England, where 38 of the 84 manufacturers were located. Examples include White, Eclipse, Cotta, Crouch, Hood, Kidder, Century and Skene. By 1903, 43 of them were gone and by the end of 1910 of those companies that were started in the decade those left were White which lasted to 1911, Conrad which lasted to 1924, Turner-Miesse of England which lasted to 1913, Morriss to 1912, Doble to 1930, Rutherford to 1912, and Pearson-Cox to 1916.Assembly line mass production by Henry Ford dramatically reduced the cost of owning a conventional automobile, was also a strong factor in the steam car's demise as the Model T was both cheap and reliable. Additionally, during the 'heyday' of steam cars, the internal combustion engine made steady gains in efficiency, matching and then surpassing the efficiency of a steam engine when the weight of a boiler is factored in.
Decline 1914 to 1939
With the introduction of the electric starter, the internal combustion engine became more popular than steam, but the internal combustion engine was not necessarily superior in performance, range, fuel economy and emissions. Some steam enthusiasts feel steam has not received its share of attention in the field of automobile efficiency.Apart from Brooks of Canada, all the steam car manufacturers that commenced between 1916 and 1926 were in the United States. Endurance was the last steam car manufacturer to commence operations. American/Derr continued retrofitting production cars of various makes with steam engines, and Doble was the last steam car manufacturer. It ceased business in 1930.
Air Pollution, Fuel Crises, Resurgence and Enthusiasts
From the 1940s onward, various steam cars were constructed, usually by enthusiasts. Among those mentioned were Charles Keen, Cal Williams' 1950 Ford Conversion, Forrest R Detrick's 1957 Detrick S-101 prototype, and Harry Peterson's Stanley powered Peterson. The Detrick was constructed by Detrick, William H Mehrling, and Lee Gaeke who designed the engine based on a Stanley.Charles Keen began constructing a steam car in 1940 with the intention of restarting steam car manufacturing. Keen's family had a long history of involvement with steam propulsion going back to his great-great-grandfather in the 1830s, who helped build early steam locomotives. His first car, a Plymouth Coupe, used a Stanley engine. In 1948 and 1949, Keen employed Abner Doble to create a more powerful steam engine, a V4. He used this in La Dawri Victress S4 bodied sports car. Both these cars are still in existence. Keen died in 1969 before completing a further car. His papers and patterns were destroyed at that time.
In the 1950s, the only manufacturer to investigate steam cars was Paxton. Abner Doble developed the Doble Ultimax engine for the Paxton Phoenix steam car, built by the Paxton Engineering Division of McCulloch Motors Corporation, Los Angeles. The engine's sustained maximum power was. A Ford Coupe was used as a test-bed for the engine. The project was eventually dropped in 1954.
In 1957, Williams Engine Company Incorporated of Ambler began offering steam engine conversions for existing production cars. When air pollution became a significant issue for California in the mid-1960s the state encouraged investigation into the use of steam-powered cars. The fuel crises of the early 1970s prompted further work. None of this resulted in renewed steam car manufacturing.
Steam cars remain the domain of enthusiasts, occasional experimentation by manufacturers, and those wishing to establish steam-powered land speed records.