DBWI: Steam/Electric technology never took off?

As we all know, the majority of cars on the road are Steam/Electric hybrids, a technology that became dominate in the late 19th century thanks to Nikola Tesla's invention of the first Steam/Electric hybrid engine, and the later success of Tesla Motors. So if Steam/Electric technology never took off, what would power the trains and cars of the world?
 
There was talk of using petrolium for running cars. Who knows, the cars might then be running at over 200 km/h. Imagine carraces were the cars went 200 km/h or over instead of at the maximum speed of 120 km/h
 
There was talk of using petrolium for running cars. Who knows, the cars might then be running at over 200 km/h. Imagine carraces were the cars went 200 km/h or over instead of at the maximum speed of 120 km/h


No way they let cars get that fast, after 100 km/h its simply redundant because your average brain can't keep up with moving at those speeds.
 
As we all know, the majority of cars on the road are Steam/Electric hybrids, a technology that became dominate in the late 19th century thanks to Nikola Tesla's invention of the first Steam/Electric hybrid engine, and the later success of Tesla Motors. So if Steam/Electric technology never took off, what would power the trains and cars of the world?

Probably petrol. Do keep in mind that from 1905 up until the 1940s, only in Asia, Northern Europe and Africa did the steam car actually truly dominate; here in North America, as well as in South America, the rest of Europe, and Australia, petrol was prominent well into the 1970s(late '80s here in the States) and only thanks to a pair of major oil shocks(Jan. 1971-Oct. 1973, and July 1977-Mar. 1982 respectively), did steam finally truly come back onto the podium(yes, it's true that the recovery started in the 1960s, as that's when the steam/electric hybrid was first invented, by the Allen-Frazier company in Washington, but they didn't become viable for mass consumption until the late 1970s), and only thanks to hardcore global warming in the '70s and '80s did steam become dominant again.

And even today, many steam cars don't have the performance of petrol vehicles; look at what happened to the last guy who tried to run a steam turbine car at Le Mans back in '92; sure, he made it thru the whole 24 hours, but in 42nd place out of 50, netting only about $10,000 worth of prize money. (I will admit there IS a fine exception to the rule, though: the mid-'80s Goldenrod Galante was capable of about 160 mph in optimum conditions)

OOC: Sorry, but I seriously doubt steam/electric hybrids would have even been thought of that early, let alone dominate the market.....Gasoline was a simple fuel and Otto-cycle engines were (usually, at least) easier to maintain for laymen. (And you're certainly not going be able to plausibly butterfly gasoline altogether, either, even if steam does better.)
 
Probably petrol. Do keep in mind that from 1905 up until the 1940s, only in Asia, Northern Europe and Africa did the steam car actually truly dominate; here in North America, as well as in South America, the rest of Europe, and Australia, petrol was prominent well into the 1970s(late '80s here in the States) and only thanks to a pair of major oil shocks(Jan. 1971-Oct. 1973, and July 1977-Mar. 1982 respectively), did steam finally truly come back onto the podium(yes, it's true that the recovery started in the 1960s, as that's when the steam/electric hybrid was first invented, by the Allen-Frazier company in Washington, but they didn't become viable for mass consumption until the late 1970s), and only thanks to hardcore global warming in the '70s and '80s did steam become dominant again.

And even today, many steam cars don't have the performance of petrol vehicles; look at what happened to the last guy who tried to run a steam turbine car at Le Mans back in '92; sure, he made it thru the whole 24 hours, but in 42nd place out of 50, netting only about $10,000 worth of prize money. (I will admit there IS a fine exception to the rule, though: the mid-'80s Goldenrod Galante was capable of about 160 mph in optimum conditions)

OOC: Sorry, but I seriously doubt steam/electric hybrids would have even been thought of that early, let alone dominate the market.....Gasoline was a simple fuel and Otto-cycle engines were (usually, at least) easier to maintain for laymen. (And you're certainly not going be able to plausibly butterfly gasoline altogether, either, even if steam does better.)


OOC: I'm ignoring this little part:
the 1960s, as that's when the steam/electric hybrid was first invented,
because it goes against this:
a technology that became dominate in the late 19th century thanks to Nikola Tesla's invention of the first Steam/Electric hybrid engine, and the later success of Tesla Motors.
But I'm willing to accept the rest broad strokes.

IC: Oh yes, the Goldenrod Galante, one of my favorites! I've allways wanted one!
 
OOC: I'm ignoring this little part:

because it goes against this:

OOC: I had a reason for that, though. As I said & implied, I don't think even Tesla could have conceived a steam/electric hybrid of any sort back in those days. If you've got a good idea as to how I might be incorrect as to its possible early successful conception, that actually makes it off the drawing board into a working model, and I'd like to hear it. And certainly, even if steam/electric cars could be invented in the late 19th century, there would be NO plausible way to make them continuously dominant from that point on.....hell, steam cars even becoming dominant at all in any one place, is a major challenge.
 
I had a reason for that, though. As I said & implied, I don't think even Tesla could have conceived a steam/electric hybrid of any sort back in those days. If you've got a good idea as to how I might be incorrect as to its possible early conception, I'd like to hear it.
OOC: Steam engines existed back then. Electric engines existed back then, but in OTL nobody thought to create a Steam/Electric hybrid engine until much later, when the entire idea of a steam engine had more or less died out. It's not to far a stretch for the same concept to be invented earlier.
 
OOC: Steam engines existed back then. Electric engines existed back then, but in OTL nobody thought to create a Steam/Electric hybrid engine until much later, when the entire idea of a steam engine had more or less died out. It's not to far a stretch for the same concept to be invented earlier.

OOC: Maybe so. Even if so, though, if the hybrids ever did become dominant(which is extremely unlikely), they wouldn't stay that way; not only were they likely to be prohibitively expensive, but there's also the advent of gasoline, and the even rising demands for horsepower, amongst other things. And regardless of what mattep74 said, there's NO butterflying the rise of gasoline power, even if steam cars in general did become more successful.

It's an interesting idea, TBH, and steam cars very well could have been more successful, but they just couldn't keep up with gasoline-powered cars for a variety of reasons(further explanations are best left to others, I think.).
 
OOC: Maybe so. Even if so, though, if the hybrids ever did become dominant(which is extremely unlikely), they wouldn't stay that way; not only were they likely to be prohibitively expensive, but there's also the advent of gasoline, and the even rising demands for horsepower, amongst other things. And regardless of what mattep74 said, there's NO butterflying the rise of gasoline power, even if steam cars in general did become more successful.
OOC: in OTL Steam/Electric hybrids did produce some rather interesting bits of engineering, like the Doble steam car which had a steam boiler powered by electric heat.
 
OOC: Since liquid fuel is much easier to use than coal, etc, it is highly likely that steam cars ITTL would run on petrol since the early 20th century at the latest, as the most likely liquid fuel. So to the question of what would cars run on in an alternate world, it is likely people would rather say "internal combustion" or a variation thereof than simply "petrol".
 
OOC: Since liquid fuel is much easier to use than coal, etc, it is highly likely that steam cars ITTL would run on petrol since the early 20th century at the latest, as the most likely liquid fuel. So to the question of what would cars run on in an alternate world, it is likely people would rather say "internal combustion" or a variation thereof than simply "petrol".
OOC: It's entirly possible to run a Steam/Electric hybrid engine with no fuel at all, using electric heating to boil water. I imagine there'd be two types of Steam/Electric Hybrids in the world. The Electric to Steam, which uses the vehicle's batteries to boil wat electricly, or the Steam to Electric, where a steam generator generates electricity that powers an electric engine. Of course it's entirly possible for a single vehicle to be both. In the Steam to Electric though, something has to power the steam boiler. So I imagine that petroluem would be burned here.
 
OOC: It's entirly possible to run a Steam/Electric hybrid engine with no fuel at all, using electric heating to boil water. I imagine there'd be two types of Steam/Electric Hybrids in the world. The Electric to Steam, which uses the vehicle's batteries to boil wat electricly, or the Steam to Electric, where a steam generator generates electricity that powers an electric engine. Of course it's entirly possible for a single vehicle to be both. In the Steam to Electric though, something has to power the steam boiler. So I imagine that petroluem would be burned here.

OOC: I see. The problem with the Electric to Steam system would be, for the first several decades, the development of good batteries. Even IOTL the problem with developing light, cheap and long-lasting batteries has AFAIK been one of the major obstacles in electric car development. Even if TTL would have more advanced batteries by 2013, before, say, the mid-20th century s I'd assume Steam or Steam to Electric models running on liquid fuels would have been more competitive on average.
 
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