We used to have steam-powered cars. What happened to them — and will they come back?

FreeThink ^ | April 9, 2023 | By Matt Benoit

[Yo-Yo]

'Suddenly boom, I got a face full of gas and my face caught on fire': Jay Leno tells how his 1907 steam car burst into flames and shares new pictures of his horrific burns - as friend says 'I could not see his face, it was a wall of fire'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11537529/Jay-Leno-tells-1907-steam-car-burst-flames-shares-new-photos-horrific-burns.html

[gundog]

Back in HS, a friend used to wonder about the possibility of a microwave heat/steam engine combination.

[4yearlurker]

I had a old Popular Mechanics magazine from circa 1944 and it had an article “Convert your pick-up truck to run on fire wood!” The same issue also had a “build a fold out couch in one weekend” article too.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Ordinary people could not use them.

If you were a wealthy person your schedule was fixed and you chauffeur would start up your boiler before you needed to leave.

If you were the country doctor (and doctors were the first to buy things like cars) and you needed to get to a patient fast a steamer would be worse then a horse.

Police, fire or military would also regard horses as better, faster and more reliable then a steamer.

[PIF]

We used to have horse-drawn wagons - will they come back?

[lee martell]

Don’t they need to be cranked in order to start?
I thought I recalled seeing silent movies with the early cars, some needing to be cranked from a turning device in the rear.

[dljordan]

“The boiler was also located under the driver’s seat”

Why do you guys sit in your helmets? So we don’t get our balls blown off!

[Getready]

All I heard was that the issue was the high pressure container. If that blew(impact or metal failure) the result was catastrophic.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I think I'll just wait for Mr. Fusion.

[Red Badger]

ICE engines did..........

[xp38]

What happened.....they ran out of steam

[MeganC]

“We used to have horse-drawn wagons - will they come back?”

Nope. The leftists will kill all of the horses because they make methane.

[Red Badger]

Was his name Orville Redenbacher by any chance?...

[joshua c]

what fuel was used to generate the steam?

[marktwain]

Steam engines were and are far less efficient than internal combustion engines.

[joshua c]

uber rickshaw is more likely

[BenLurkin]

Exactly. The horse drawn carts will be pulled by the poor while Gates and Newsom ride along, waving like Rose Queens at the underlings trudging an hour on foot to their jobs in the “fifteen minute” cities.

[AnalogReigns]

We still rely on steam engines....in a turbine form, to push our nuclear ships and subs. If their systems could be miniaturized....

[Organic Panic]

I miss the gentle glow of lamps fueled by whale oil.