When was the internal combustion engine used?

The internal combustion engine came into practical use in 1860 with Étienne Lenoir’s commercially sold gas engine; it spread rapidly from the mid-1880s through the early 20th century—powering cars, boats, machines, and aircraft—and remains widely used today. Earlier experimental engines date back to the 17th and early 19th centuries, but everyday adoption followed breakthroughs by Nikolaus Otto (1876 four-stroke), Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz (mid-1880s light engines and automobiles), and Rudolf Diesel (1890s compression-ignition).

Early ideas and first demonstrations

Long before engines powered daily life, inventors tested the idea of “internal” combustion—burning fuel within a cylinder to drive a piston—rather than using external heat like steam engines. These efforts laid groundwork but did not yield durable commercial machines.

From concepts to first prototypes

Christiaan Huygens sketched a gunpowder-driven piston in the 1670s. In 1794, Robert Street patented an “internal fire engine.” In 1807, François Isaac de Rivaz built a hydrogen-oxygen engine that briefly propelled a carriage in Switzerland, while the Niépce brothers demonstrated the Pyréolophore powering a boat on the River Saône in France. In the 1850s, Eugenio Barsanti and Felice Matteucci built an atmospheric internal combustion engine. These devices proved the principle but lacked efficiency, reliability, or fuel systems for everyday use.

First practical and commercial use

The turning point arrived in 1860 when Étienne Lenoir produced a double-acting, spark-ignition gas engine fueled by town gas. Hundreds—by some counts over a thousand—were built within a few years to drive small machinery and pumps. Despite poor fuel economy, the Lenoir engine was the first to see sustained commercial use and proved that internal combustion could power real work outside the lab.

Breakthroughs that made everyday use possible

The following milestones show how internal combustion engines became efficient, compact, and versatile enough for widespread adoption across industries and transportation.

1. 1860: Étienne Lenoir markets a practical gas engine for workshops.
2. 1862: Alphonse Beau de Rochas outlines the theoretical four-stroke cycle (intake, compression, power, exhaust).
3. 1876: Nikolaus Otto builds a reliable, commercially successful four-stroke “Otto cycle” engine.
4. 1878–1879: Dugald Clerk develops a workable two-stroke engine.
5. 1885: Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach create a high-speed, lightweight gasoline engine; Daimler’s “Reitwagen” two-wheeler runs the same year.
6. 1885–1886: Karl Benz builds (1885) and patents (1886) the Patent-Motorwagen, an early purpose-built automobile.
7. 1892–1897: Rudolf Diesel patents and perfects the compression-ignition diesel engine, achieving far higher efficiency by 1897.
8. 1903: The Wright brothers’ Flyer uses a custom lightweight gasoline engine to achieve powered flight.
9. 1901–1906: Early tractors (e.g., Hart-Parr) and marine outboards (Ole Evinrude) extend internal combustion to farms and small boats.
10. 1912: Cadillac introduces the electric starter, making gasoline cars easier and safer to use.
11. 1910s–1920s: Mass production (e.g., Ford Model T, 1908–1927) and better roads normalize car and truck use.

Together, these advances transformed internal combustion from a workshop novelty into the dominant power source for land transport, small marine craft, light aviation, and countless machines by the early 20th century.

How and where it was used across sectors

Once practical and efficient designs were available, internal combustion engines spread quickly into multiple sectors, each adopting the technology at different times and for specific advantages such as weight, efficiency, or ease of refueling.

• Stationary power: From the 1860s, gas engines ran pumps, printing presses, and workshop tools; later gasoline and diesel units powered small factories and backup generators.
• Road transport: Automobiles emerged in the 1880s–1890s and proliferated in the 1900s–1920s; trucks and buses followed, enabled by durable four-stroke gasoline and later diesel engines.
• Motorcycles: The Daimler Reitwagen (1885) was an early milestone; Hildebrand & Wolfmüller (1894) produced the first series-production motorcycle.
• Marine: Small boats adopted gasoline engines in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; outboard motors (from 1906) democratized boating; large marine diesels arrived in the 1910s and dominate commercial shipping today.
• Aviation: Piston engines powered the Wright Flyer (1903) and most aircraft until turbojets spread after World War II; piston engines still dominate general aviation and training aircraft.
• Agriculture and construction: Early 20th-century tractors and equipment replaced animal and steam power; internal combustion enabled mobile, powerful machinery for fields and worksites.
• Military: World War I tanks (1916) and later armored vehicles used gasoline and diesel engines; internal combustion remains central to military mobility.
• Rail: Diesel and diesel-electric locomotives appeared in the 1920s–1930s and replaced steam on many networks after the 1950s, especially where full electrification was impractical.
• Small engines and tools: Chain saws, lawn mowers, portable generators, and snow blowers proliferated through the mid-20th century.

By mid-century, internal combustion was the default choice anywhere light weight, high energy density, and flexible refueling outweighed the benefits of steam or direct electrification.

Widespread adoption and present-day use

Internal combustion engines became ubiquitous in the first half of the 20th century and still power most global road freight, much of marine shipping (diesel), non-electrified rail, and virtually all piston-powered general aviation. However, policy and market shifts are reshaping light-duty use. The European Union has adopted a 2035 requirement for new cars and vans to be zero-emission at the tailpipe, with a pathway for vehicles running solely on certified e-fuels; California and several U.S. states target 100% zero-emission new car sales by 2035; the U.K. plans a 2035 phaseout for most new internal combustion cars; and China continues tightening New Energy Vehicle mandates to lift electric and plug-in hybrid market share. Emissions standards (e.g., U.S. EPA rules and the EU’s Euro series, with Euro 7 finalized in 2024 for mid-to-late-2020s rollout) keep pushing cleaner combustion. In parallel, hybrids, advanced aftertreatment, biofuels, sustainable aviation fuels, and even experimental hydrogen-fueled ICEs are extending the technology’s relevance in niches where batteries or fuel cells are not yet practical.

Frequently confused points

“Used” versus “invented” often causes confusion: internal combustion was conceived and demonstrated in the 17th–early 19th centuries, but practical, commercial use began in 1860 with Lenoir. The breakthrough for mainstream mobility came with Otto’s four-stroke (1876) and the light, fast gasoline engines of the mid-1880s, followed by Diesel’s high-efficiency engine (1897). Gas, gasoline, and diesel engines are all internal combustion—they differ mainly in fuel and ignition method.

Summary

Practical use of the internal combustion engine started in 1860 and accelerated from the 1880s, enabling automobiles, motorcycles, tractors, boats, and aircraft to reshape modern life. It remains central to heavy transport and many industrial roles even as cleaner combustion, hybridization, alternative fuels, and electrification redefine where and how it is used.

What came first, gas or diesel?

Did diesel come before gas? The gas engine came first.

When did we start using combustion engines?

Automobile and the Environment in American History: Energy Use and the Internal Combustion Engine. The first gasoline-fueled, four-stroke cycle engine was built in Germany in 1876. In 1886, Carl Benz began the first commercial production of motor vehicles with internal combustion engines.

What fuel did the first car run on?

The very first self-propelled vehicles used steam as their fuel, with Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot building the first steam-powered vehicle in 1769. However, the first successful and practical automobile, Karl Benz’s Patent-Motorwagen in 1886, ran on a petroleum-based fuel. Early in the history of automobiles, other fuels were also used, including electricity for some cars in the 1880s and 1890s, and gasoline, which was a less valuable byproduct of kerosene production before the invention of the car made it a valuable fuel commodity. 
Early Vehicles and Their Fuels

• Steam-Powered Vehicles: Before the internal combustion engine, steam was the primary fuel source for early road vehicles. The earliest examples, such as Cugnot’s steam-powered tricycle (1769), utilized steam to power the vehicle. 
• Petroleum-Fueled Cars: Karl Benz’s 1886 Patent-Motorwagen, considered the first practical automobile, was powered by a petroleum-fueled internal combustion engine. He used a fuel called Ligroin to power his engine. 
• Early Alternatives: Other fuels were also tested and used for early cars, including: 
  • Electricity: Some early cars in the late 19th century ran on electricity, as demonstrated by Gustave Trouvé in 1881. 
  • Gasoline: Though initially a discarded byproduct of kerosene production, gasoline quickly became the dominant fuel for internal combustion engines after the invention of the automobile. 
  • Other Petroleum Products: In the early days, drivers could also purchase gasoline from general stores, or run their engines on kerosene or turpentine. 

What was the first car with an internal combustion engine?

Benz Patent Motor Car
On January 29, 1886, Carl Benz applied for a patent for his “vehicle powered by a gas engine.” The patent – number 37435 – may be regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile. In July 1886 the newspapers reported on the first public outing of the three-wheeled Benz Patent Motor Car, model no.