Why Did Petrol Become The Dominant Fuel For Cars?

The motoring industry is currently going through a period of sustained change, where cars that were initially fuelled exclusively by petrol or diesel are instead powered by either electricity or a mixture of electricity and petrol power.

However, for over a century oil tank installations have been central to making the car a global phenomenon.

However, electric cars were, at one point, nearly twice as popular as petrol cars in the United States and seemed to be on the verge of a gigantic breakthrough that would have changed the history of motoring as we know it.

The Car Of The People

Part of the reason for this was due to the first affordable car and therefore the first car to sell in considerable numbers. The Ford Model T, initially constructed in 1908 could run on kerosene, ethanol or petrol, with the plummeting price of the latter making it the ideal fuel source.

Whilst not every part of the Model T was influential, it popularised the internal combustion engine, and mean that a petrol car could sell for half the price of an electric one.

Improved Range

Electric cars were most successful when they were used as urban transportation, but by the 1920s cars could travel further and faster, and so a way to quickly replenish power was needed.

Petrol cars, aided by discoveries of large reserves of petroleum became much cheaper to run and could travel further distances.

The Electric Starter

The biggest remaining advantage electric cars had was the fact that they did not need to be started using the starting handle, a process that was difficult and could sometimes break the arm of the person starting the engine.

The invention of the electric starter in 1912 by Charles Kettering all but eliminated this messy starting procedure and relegated batteries to the starting procedure of petrol cars.

The Failed Leap Forward

There is a tremendous what-if scenario involving one of the most famous inventors in the world and an invention that, had it arrived on time may have changed the motoring world as we know it.

Thomas Edison worked on an alkaline nickel-iron battery that would be durable, lightweight and potentially powerful enough to become the standard power source for cars.

Sadly his early models were not powerful enough, being almost outperformed by lead-acid batteries and having a bad habit of leaking, shortening the battery life. By the time he fixed the issues the Model T had established the standard for cars going forward.