Who invented the automobile, Mr. President?
We were listening tonight with great interest to the speech delivered by President Barack Obama – Address to Joint Session of Congress – Tuesday, February 24th, 2009. This part of the speech grabbed our attention:
But to truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy. So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America. And to support that innovation, we will invest fifteen billion dollars a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks built right here in America.
As for our auto industry, everyone recognizes that years of bad decision-making and a global recession have pushed our automakers to the brink. We should not, and will not, protect them from their own bad practices. But we are committed to the goal of a re-tooled, re-imagined auto industry that can compete and win. Millions of jobs depend on it. Scores of communities depend on it. And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it. [emphasis added]
President Obama's speech writers obviously didn't spend a lot of time looking for prior art for the invention of the automobile, which they presumed had been invented in the United States of America. If they had even googled "who invented the automobile?" they would have found the Library of Congress has asked and answered this question:
Question:
Who invented the automobile?
Answer:
Karl (Carl) Benz.This question does not have a straightforward answer. The history of the automobile is very rich and dates back to the 15th century when Leonardo da Vinci was creating designs and models for transport vehicles.
There are many different types of automobiles - steam, electric, and gasoline - as well as countless styles. Exactly who invented the automobile is a matter of opinion. If we had to give credit to one inventor, it would probably be Karl Benz from Germany. Many suggest that he created the first true automobile in 1885/1886.
Carl Benz obtained a patent for his invention in Germany, Patent DRP No. 37435. The Benz Patent Motor Car is considered to be the world’s first automobile.
According to the article published by the Library of Congress, George Baldwin Selden, an American, was granted a patent in the United States for an invention that "combined internal combustion engine with a carriage: patent no: 549,160 (1895). Never manufactured -- Selden collected royalties." [Interesting patent story.]
The Duryea brothers are credited with setting up the first American car manufacturing company, the Duryea Motor Wagon Company.
In the context of President Obama's address, it might have been informative to reference the early development of the electric car in the United States, such as the 1914 “Duplex Drive Brougham” Detroit Electric Automobile once owned by Charles Proteus Steinmetz. [photo above]
On a recent trip to Schenectady, NY, to mark National Inventors' Day, which is celebrated in the United States on the anniversary of Edison's birthday, I actually saw this rare electric automobile, currently on loan to the Edison Exploratorium.
And, in an article in the New York Daily News, I learned about Steinmetz's work to develop a cost-effective electric automobile in America.
Steinmetz secured 200 patents in his lifetime and advocated the creation of an affordable electric automobile that would sell for less than $1,000 and could compete with gasoline powered cars like the Model T Ford and the costly Detroit Electric, an electric car created by the Anderson Electric Car Co. in Detroit in 1909. An early consumer advocate and environmentalist, Steinmetz said the electric car would be more economical and less polluting than the expensive and dirty gasoline powered cars.
In a paper Steinmetz authored on the electric car in March 1920, he wrote: "In general, in comparing the electric with the gasolene (sic) car, the advantages of the electric car are: 1) Very low cost of maintenance and repair; 2) Reliability and simplicity of operation and with the current gasoline prices, usually; 3) Lower cost of operation.
"The disadvantages of the electric car are: 1) Depending on a charging station or charging outfit; 2) Limited mileage of operation with a single charge and usually also; 3) Lower speed."
Those disadvantages seem to have been overcome now by Tesla Motors, and others, and hopefully, production of fuel-efficient automobiles will come from General Motors in the United States. We can make history, but we can't re-write history. America is not the nation that invented the automobile.
