Which Leonardo da Vinci invention is widely considered an early self-propelled cart?

Leonardo da Vinci’s self-propelled cart is widely considered an early self-propelled vehicle.

Leonardo designed the cart in the late fifteenth century, probably around 1478–1480. Springs wound inside the vehicle supplied its stored energy, while carefully arranged gears transferred that energy to the wheels. The design could be set to travel along a predetermined path, making it more like a programmable mechanical device than a modern automobile.

The cart was not powered by an engine, fuel, or a person sitting inside it. Its movement came from mechanical tension in coiled springs, similar in principle to a large clockwork mechanism. Because no complete original cart survives, historians study Leonardo’s drawings and later reconstructions.

The design is often called the first self-propelled cart, but it should not be confused with a practical road vehicle. Leonardo created it as an ingenious automaton for court entertainment or theatrical display, not as transportation for passengers.