Development of the automobile started in 1672 with the invention of the first steam-powered vehicle, which led to the creation of the first steam-powered automobile capable of human transportation, built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769. Inventors began to branch out at the start of the 19th century, creating the de Rivas engine, one of the first internal combustion engines, and an early electric motor. Samuel Brown later tested the first industrially applied internal combustion engine in 1826.
Did automobiles exist prior to the invention of the ICE (internal combustion engine)?
The first engines that were capable of enabling human transportation were steam powered engines. While the development of steam powered vehicles capable of enabling human transportation was initiated in 1672, the first actual steam powered automobile was built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769.