Internal combustion engine and Felice Matteucci tried to patent "Obtaining motive power by the explosion of gases", although the application did not progress to the granted stage. In 1860, Belgian Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir produced a gas-fired internal combustion engine. In 1864, Nikolaus Otto patented the first atmospheric gas engine. In 1872, American George Brayton invented the first commercial liquid-fuelled internal combustion engine. In 1876, Nikolaus Otto, working with Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, patented the compressed charge, four-cycle engine. In 1879, Karl Benz patented a reliable two-stroke gasoline engine. Later, in 1886, Karl Benz began the first commercial production of motor vehicles
Petrol engine of the difference in burn rates between the two different fuels, petrol engines are mechanically designed with different timing than diesels, so to auto-ignite a petrol engine causes the expansion of gas inside the cylinder to reach its greatest point before the cylinder has reached the "top dead center" (T.D.C) position. Spark plugs are typically set statically or at idle at a minimum of 10 degrees or so of crankshaft rotation before the piston reaches T.D.C, but at much higher values at higher engine speeds to allow time for the fuel-air charge to substantially complete combustion before too much expansion