The Ford Steam Engine?
After moving his apprenticeship to the Detroit Dry Dock Co., Ford eventually returned home to work on his family’s farm in 1882. While he did help his family out, Ford spent much of his time studying bookkeeping at Detroit’s Goldsmith, Bryant & Stratton Business College, and building engines for smaller vehicles.
Henry Ford playing with a steam threshing machine on the Michigan farm where he worked in his youth. Photo by Everett Collection / Shutterstock
Taking what he learned at his apprenticeship, Ford first built a steam wagon, but then came to a conclusion that “steam was not suitable for light vehicles” because of how dangerous the boiler could be. He also knew that he didn’t want to start experimenting with electricity because of how expensive trolley wires were. Ford also said that there wasn’t such a thing as a storage battery that could fit inside a small vehicle.