Steam car

A steam car is a car that has a steam engine. Wood, coal, ethanol, or others can be used as fuel. The fuel is burned in a boiler and the heat converts water into steam. When the water turns to steam, it expands. The expansion creates pressure. The pressure pushes the pistons back and forth. This turns the driveshaft to spin the wheels forward. It works like a coal-fueled steam train, or steam boat. The steam car was the next logical step in independent transport.

Related Topics:
Steam engine - Wood - Coal - Ethanol - Fuel - Water - Steam - Pressure - Pistons - Driveshaft - Steam train - Steam boat

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Steam cars take a long time to start, but some can reach speeds over 100 mph (161 km/h) eventually.

Related Topics:
Mph - Km/h

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A steam engine uses external combustion, as opposed to internal combustion. Gasoline-powered cars are more efficient at about 25-28% efficiency. A steam engine car will work at only 5-8% efficiency without addons. With addons a steam engine may have efficiencies around 50%, well above ICE´s.

Related Topics:
Gasoline - Efficiency - Addons

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The most well known and best selling steam-powered car was the Stanley Steamer. It used a compact boiler under the hood to power a simple two-piston engine which was connected directly to the rear axle. Before Henry Ford introduced monthly payment financing with great success, cars were typically purchased outright. This is why the Stanley was kept simple; to keep the purchase price affordable.

Related Topics:
Stanley Steamer - Engine - Henry Ford

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The Doble car company introduced an expensive upscale steam-powered car that incorporated a flash-steam generator, which heated a much smaller amount of water into steam as needed. This shortened the start-up time, and lessened the severity of any steam leak, due to the smaller volume of stored steam. The more expensive Doble also incorporated a condenser which turned the exhaust steam back into water. Since the simpler Stanley vented its exhaust steam directly to the atmosphere, its boiler required frequent water re-fills.

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Electric cars and steam-powered cars were actually selling fairly well until the invention of the electric starter for gasoline-powered internal-combustion automobiles. Before the electric starter system from Delco was put into production by General Motors, internal combustion powered cars were started by a hand-crank, which was difficult and occasionally dangerous.

Related Topics:
Electric cars - Electric - Delco - General Motors

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Electric cars had a short range, and could not be charged up on the road if the battery ran low. Steam cars (even with the newer flash-steam generator) required several minutes to warm up before they could be driven. As a result, gasoline-powered internal combustion automobiles with electric starters rapidly gained in popularity, while electric and steam-powered cars then fell by the wayside.

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