Metal component from the three wheeled motor car, by Benz, Paris, France, 1888

This shows the form of sparking plug used, in conjunction with an induction coil and battery, by Carl Benz in his first motor vehicles. The success of his vehicles was probably largely due to the adoption of electric ignition, which was better suited to moving vehicles than the flame and hot tube systems then used on stationary internal combustion engines. Lenoir had, however, used a similar electric system in his gas engine of 1860.