Car

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Republic. For other uses, see Car (disambiguation), CARS (disambiguation),
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Car

Cars and trucks driving on a divided

highway, Highway 401 in Ontario, Canada

Classification Vehicle

Industry Various

Application Transportation

Fuel source Gasoline, electricity, diesel, natural

gas, hydrogen, solar, vegetable oil

Powered Yes

Self-propelled Yes

Wheels 3–4
 Axles 2

Inventor Carl Benz

Invented 1886

A car (or automobile) is a wheeled motor vehicle that is used for transportation.
Most definitions of cars say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight
people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.[1][2]
The year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the car when German inventor Carl
Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen.[3][4][5] Cars became widely available
during the 20th century. One of the first cars affordable by the masses was the
1908 Model T, an American car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Cars
were rapidly adopted in the US, where they replaced animal-drawn carriages and
carts.[6] In Europe and other parts of the world, demand for automobiles did not
increase until after World War II.[6] The car is considered an essential part of
the developed economy.
Cars have controls for driving, parking, passenger comfort, and a variety of lights.
Over the decades, additional features and controls have been added to vehicles,
making them progressively more complex. These include rear-reversing cameras, air
conditioning, navigation systems, and in-car entertainment. Most cars in use in the
early 2020s are propelled by an internal combustion engine, fueled by
the combustion of fossil fuels. Electric cars, which were invented early in the history
of the car, became commercially available in the 2000s and are predicted to cost
less to buy than gasoline cars before 2025.[7][8] The transition from fossil fuels to
electric cars features prominently in most climate change mitigation scenarios,[9] such
as Project Drawdown's 100 actionable solutions for climate change.[10]
There are costs and benefits to car use. The costs to the individual include acquiring
the vehicle, interest payments (if the car is financed), repairs and maintenance,
fuel, depreciation, driving time, parking fees, taxes, and insurance.[11] The costs to
society include maintaining roads, land use, road congestion, air pollution, public
health, healthcare, and disposing of the vehicle at the end of its life. Traffic
collisions are the largest cause of injury-related deaths worldwide.[12]
Personal benefits include on-demand transportation, mobility, independence, and
convenience.[13] Societal benefits include economic benefits, such as job and wealth
creation from the automotive industry, transportation provision, societal well-being
from leisure and travel opportunities, and revenue generation from taxes. People's
ability to move flexibly from place to place has far-reaching implications for the
nature of societies.[14] There are around 1 billion cars in use worldwide. Car usage is
increasing rapidly, especially in China, India, and other newly industrialized
countries.[15]

Contents

 1Etymology
  2History
 3Mass production
 4Fuel and propulsion technologies
 5User interface
 6Electronics and interior
 7Lighting
 8Weight
 9Seating and body style
 10Safety
 11Costs and benefits
 12Environmental effects
 13Emerging car technologies
o 13.1Autonomous car
o 13.2Open source development
o 13.3Car sharing
 14Industry
 15Alternatives
 16Other meanings
 17See also
 18Notes
 19References
 20Further reading
 21External links

Etymology
The English word car is believed to originate from Latin carrus/carrum "wheeled
vehicle" or (via Old North French) Middle English carre "two-wheeled cart," both of
which in turn derive from Gaulish karros "chariot."[16][17] It originally referred to any
wheeled horse-drawn vehicle, such as a cart, carriage, or wagon.[18][19]
"Motor car," attested from 1895, is the usual formal term in British
English.[2] "Autocar," a variant likewise attested from 1895 and literally meaning "self-
propelled car," is now considered archaic.[20] "Horseless carriage" is attested from
1895.[21]
"Automobile," a classical compound derived from Ancient Greek autós (αὐτός) "self"
and Latin mobilis "movable," entered English from French and was first adopted by
the Automobile Club of Great Britain in 1897.[22] It fell out of favour in Britain and is
now used chiefly in North America,[23] where the abbreviated form "auto" commonly
appears as an adjective in compound formations like "auto industry" and "auto
mechanic".[24][25] Both forms are still used in everyday Dutch (auto/automobiel)
and German (Auto/Automobil).[citation needed]

History
Main article: History of the automobile
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Steam Machine Of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest)

The first working steam-powered vehicle was designed—and quite possibly built—
by Ferdinand Verbiest, a Flemish member of a Jesuit mission in China around 1672.
It was a 65-centimetre (26 in)-long scale-model toy for the Kangxi Emperor that was
unable to carry a driver or a passenger.[13][26][27] It is not known with certainty if
Verbiest's model was successfully built or run.[27]

Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris, France

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot is widely credited with building the first full-scale, self-
propelled mechanical vehicle or car in about 1769; he created a steam-powered
tricycle.[28] He also constructed two steam tractors for the French Army, one of which
is preserved in the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts.[29] His inventions
were, however, limited by problems with water supply and maintaining steam
pressure.[29] In 1801, Richard Trevithick built and demonstrated his Puffing Devil road
locomotive, believed by many to be the first demonstration of a steam-powered road
vehicle. It was unable to maintain sufficient steam pressure for long periods and was
of little practical use.
The development of external combustion engines is detailed as part of the history of
the car but often treated separately from the development of true cars. A variety of
steam-powered road vehicles were used during the first part of the 19th century,
including steam cars, steam buses, phaetons, and steam rollers. In the United
Kingdom, sentiment against them led to the Locomotive Acts of 1865.
In 1807, Nicéphore Niépce and his brother Claude created what was probably the
world's first internal combustion engine (which they called a Pyréolophore), but they
chose to install it in a boat on the river Saone in France.[30] Coincidentally, in 1807 the
Swiss inventor François Isaac de Rivaz designed his own 'de Rivaz internal
combustion engine' and used it to develop the world's first vehicle to be powered by
such an engine. The Niépces' Pyréolophore was fuelled by a mixture of Lycopodium
powder (dried spores of the Lycopodium plant), finely crushed coal dust and resin
that were mixed with oil, whereas de Rivaz used a mixture
of hydrogen and oxygen.[30] Neither design was very successful, as was the case with
others, such as Samuel Brown, Samuel Morey, and Etienne Lenoir with
his hippomobile, who each produced vehicles (usually adapted carriages or carts)
powered by internal combustion engines.[3]

Gustave Trouvé's tricycle, the first ever electric automobile to be shown in public

Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car

In November 1881, French inventor Gustave Trouvé demonstrated the first working
(three-wheeled) car powered by electricity at the International Exposition of
Electricity, Paris.[31] Although several other German engine