At the end of the 18th century, mechanical vehicles were first created in the world. At first they were steam-powered carts, not much different from the first steam locomotives, which they actually were. Then, in the 20s of the 19th century, the first electric cars appeared. And already in the 80s of the 19th century, the first cars running on internal combustion engines appeared.
Almost the entire 19th century passed under the flag of steam locomotives. They were the first to appear and, besides, the economy of the entire developed world was based on coal at that time. Railway engines, steamboats as well as steam engines in factories worked on coal. The development of the electric vehicles that followed them was restrained by several factors such as the lack of batteries and the underdevelopment of electric networks and infrastructure. However, it was on electric vehicles that mankind first surpassed the speed bar of 100 km/h at the end of the 19th century. And in terms of comfort, the first electric cars were much superior to ICE cars.
The first ICE cars that appeared at the end of the 19th century were at first very behind both electric cars and steam locomotives. But the rapid development of the economy, successes in the exploration and production of oil, the widespread introduction of internal combustion engines, convenience, in the context of an undeveloped infrastructure, and the use of liquid fuel for refueling technology, allowed cars with internal combustion engines to overtake both electric cars and steam locomotives in the early 20th century.
Before the advent of mechanical vehicles, there was no question of choosing the type of propulsion. Wheels were used to move on all vehicles. But after the appearance of various mechanical means, the question of choosing the type of propulsion arose. It turned out that although the wheel is the most economical type of propulsion (rolling friction has the lowest coefficient of friction), it is not universal and loses to other types of propulsion in difficult natural and heavy-going conditions. What types of propulsion exist and where are they used?
Screw. Screw rotary all-terrain vehicle uses a propeller type propeller for its movement. Its advantage is that it will pass on absolutely any surface except mountains. Swamps, rivers, lakes, forests, ice and snow are not an obstacle for him. Cons - it is extremely non-economical, because it eats away fuel immediately. Also, it destroys the surface on which it moves. Currently, this type of all-terrain vehicle is used extremely limitedly and only in swamps or in swampy rivers and lakes, where no other equipment will pass.
Tracked mover. Tracked mover provides an increased cross-country ability. Having a large ground contact surface provides low ground pressure. A large number of track rollers allows you to evenly distribute the weight across the transmission. In off-road conditions, the caterpillar mover provides the smoothest ride on the vehicle. Due to the fact that the drive wheel of the caterpillar mover may not come into contact with the surface, this type of mover is able to provide the vehicle with a very high ground clearance. Cons – it suffers increased wear of the tracks as they do not run more than 5,000 km and you have to constantly change them. Also, it’s more noisy than a wheeled engine. Furthermore, very high fuel consumption is characteristic of its use. Difficulty of driving on asphalt is among its drawbacks as well. Besides, speed on water, when moving due to caterpillars, approaches the speed of a snail.
Wheel mover. It is the very first and most common type of mover. Being the most quiet and economical it is also the most comfortable to use but the least passable of all types of propulsion.