

Search

Donate

 Create account

 Log in

Contents

hide

(Top)

Etymology
 

History

Components and design

Safety

Costs and benefits

Environmental effects

Social issues

Emerging car technologies

Industry

Alternatives


Car Motorsport

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

Car

 Article

 Talk

 Read

 View source

 View history

Tools


 

Appearance

hide

Text

Small

Standard

Large

Width

Standard

Wide

Color (beta)

Automatic

Light

Dark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Car (disambiguation).

"Passenger car" and "Automobile" redirect here. For other uses,
see Passenger car (disambiguation), Automobile (disambiguation),
and Passenger railroad car.

Car

The Ford Model T, produced from 1908 to

1927, is widely credited with being the
first mass-affordable automobile, and it
remains one of the best-selling cars of all
time.

Classification Vehicle

Industry Various

Application Transportation

Fuel source  Petrol

 Diesel

 Natural gas

 Hydrogen

 Biodiesel

 Battery

 Fuel cell

 Solar cell

 Hybrids of the
above

Powered Yes
 Self- Yes
propelled

Wheels 3–6, most often 4

Axles 2, less commonly 3

Inventor Carl Benz

Invented 1886 (139 years ago)

A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions

of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat 1-8 people, have four
wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo.[1][2] There are
around 1.644 billion cars in use worldwide as of January 2025. [3]

The French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built the first steam-powered

road vehicle in 1769, while the Swiss inventor François Isaac de
Rivaz designed and constructed the first internal combustion-powered
automobile in 1808. The modern car—a practical, marketable automobile
for everyday use—was invented in 1886, when the German inventor Carl
Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen. Commercial cars became
widely available during the 20th century. The 1901 Oldsmobile Curved
Dash and the 1908 Ford Model T, both American cars, are widely
considered the first mass-produced[4][5] and mass-affordable[6][7][8] cars,
respectively. Cars were rapidly adopted in the US, where they
replaced horse-drawn carriages.[9] In Europe and other parts of the world,
demand for automobiles did not increase until after World War II.[10] In the
21st century, car usage is still increasing rapidly, especially in China,
India, and other newly industrialised countries.[11][12]

Cars have controls for driving, parking, passenger comfort, and a variety
of lamps. 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
widespread in the 2020s. The transition from fossil fuel-powered cars to
electric cars features prominently in most climate change mitigation
scenarios.[13]
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.[14] The costs to society include resources used to produce
cars and fuel, maintaining roads, land-use, road congestion, air
pollution, noise pollution, public health, and disposing of the vehicle at the
end of its life. Traffic collisions are the largest cause of injury-related
deaths worldwide.[15] Personal benefits include on-demand transportation,
mobility, independence, and convenience. [16][page needed] 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. People's ability to move flexibly from
place to place has far-reaching implications for the nature of societies.[17]

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".[18][19] It originally referred to any
wheeled horse-drawn vehicle, such as a cart, carriage, or wagon.[20] The
word also occurs in other Celtic languages. [21]

"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.[22] "Horseless
carriage" is attested from 1895.[23]

"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.[24] It fell out of favour in Britain and is now used chiefly
in North America,[25] where the abbreviated form "auto" commonly
appears as an adjective in compound formations like "auto industry" and
"auto mechanic".[26][27]

History

Main article: History of the automobile

This section may contain an excessive amount of

intricate detail that may only interest a
particular audience. Specifically, detail should
be moved to main article and summarized
here. Please help by spinning off or relocating any
relevant information, and removing excessive detail
 that may be against Wikipedia's inclusion
policy. (September 2022) (Learn how and when to
remove this message)

Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678

(Ferdinand Verbiest) Cugnot's 1771 fardier

à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris

Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car

The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the

first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept
 Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver

The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first

four-wheeled electric car Stuttgart, a cradle of the

car [28][29]
with Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach working there at
the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft and place of the modern day
headquarters of Mercedes-Benz Group and Porsche

In 1649, Hans Hautsch of Nuremberg built a clockwork-driven carriage.[30]

[31]
The first steam-powered vehicle was designed by Ferdinand Verbiest,
a Flemish member of a Jesuit mission in China around 1672. It was a 65-
centimetre-long (26 in) scale-model toy for the Kangxi Emperor that was
unable to carry a driver or a passenger.[16][32][33] It is not known with
certainty if Verbiest's model was successfully built or run. [33]

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot is widely credited with building the first full-scale,

self-propelled mechanical vehicle in about 1769; he created a steam-
powered tricycle.[34] He also constructed two steam tractors for the French
Army, one of which is preserved in the French National Conservatory of
Arts and Crafts.[34] His inventions were limited by problems with water
supply and maintaining steam pressure.[34] 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 (also known as steam) engines

is detailed as part of the history of the car but often treated separately
from the development of cars in their modern understanding. 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 installed it in a boat on the river Saone in France.
[35]
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.[35] Neither design was successful, as was the
case with others, such as Samuel Brown, Samuel Morey, and Etienne
Lenoir,[36] who each built vehicles (usually adapted carriages or carts)
powered by internal combustion engines.[37]

In November 1881, French inventor Gustave Trouvé demonstrated a three-

wheeled car powered by electricity at the International Exposition of
Electricity.[38] Although several other German engineers (including Gottlieb
Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, and Siegfried Marcus) were working on cars at
about the same time, the year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the
modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use—when
the German Carl Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen; he is
generally acknowledged as the inventor of the car. [37][39][40]

In 1879, Benz was granted a patent for his first engine, which had been
designed in 1878. Many of his other inventions made the use of the
internal combustion engine feasible for powering a vehicle. His
first Motorwagen was built in 1885 in Mannheim, Germany. He was
awarded the patent for its invention as of his application on 29 January
1886 (under the auspices of his major company, Benz & Cie., which was
founded in 1883). Benz began promotion of the vehicle on 3 July 1886,
and about 25 Benz vehicles were sold between 1888 and 1893, when his
first four-wheeler was introduced along with a cheaper model. They also
were powered with four-stroke engines of his own design. Emile Roger of
France, already producing Benz engines under license, now added the
Benz car to his line of products. Because France was more open to the
early cars, initially more were built and sold in France through Roger than
Benz sold in Germany. In August 1888, Bertha Benz, the wife and business
partner of Carl Benz, undertook the first road trip by car, to prove the
road-worthiness of her husband's invention. [41]

In 1896, Benz designed and patented the first internal-combustion flat

engine, called boxermotor. During the last years of the 19th century, Benz
was the largest car company in the world with 572 units produced in 1899
and, because of its size, Benz & Cie., became a joint-stock company. The
first motor car in central Europe and one of the first factory-made cars in
the world, was produced by Czech company Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau
(later renamed to Tatra) in 1897, the Präsident automobil.

Daimler and Maybach founded Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG)

in Cannstatt in 1890, and sold their first car in 1892 under the brand
name Daimler. It was a horse-drawn stagecoach built by another
manufacturer, which they retrofitted with an engine of their design. By
1895, about 30 vehicles had been built by Daimler and Maybach, either at
the Daimler works or in the Hotel Hermann, where they set up shop after
disputes with their backers. Benz, Maybach, and the Daimler team seem
to have been unaware of each other's early work. They never worked
together; by the time of the merger of the two companies, Daimler and
Maybach were no longer part of DMG. Daimler died in 1900 and later that
year, Maybach designed an engine named Daimler-Mercedes that was
placed in a specially ordered model built to specifications set by Emil
Jellinek. This was a production of a small number of vehicles for Jellinek to
race and market in his country. Two years later, in 1902, a new model
DMG car was produced and the model was named Mercedes after the
Maybach engine, which generated 35 hp. Maybach quit DMG shortly
thereafter and opened a business of his own. Rights to the Daimler brand
name were sold to other manufacturers.

In 1890, Émile Levassor and Armand Peugeot of France began producing

vehicles with Daimler engines, and so laid the foundation of
the automotive industry in France. In 1891, Auguste Doriot and his
Peugeot colleague Louis Rigoulot completed the longest trip by a petrol-
driven vehicle when their self-designed and built Daimler
powered Peugeot Type 3 completed 2,100 kilometres (1,300 mi)
from Valentigney to Paris and Brest and back again. They were attached to
the first Paris–Brest–Paris bicycle race, but finished six days after the
winning cyclist, Charles Terront.

The first design for an American car with a petrol internal combustion
engine was made in 1877 by George Selden of Rochester, New York.
Selden applied for a patent for a car in 1879, but the patent application
expired because the vehicle was never built. After a delay of 16 years and
a series of attachments to his application, on 5 November 1895, Selden
was granted a US patent (U.S. patent 549,160) for a two-stroke car
engine, which hindered, more than encouraged, development of cars in
the United States. His patent was challenged by Henry Ford and others,
and overturned in 1911.

In 1893, the first running, petrol-driven American car was built and road-
tested by the Duryea brothers of Springfield, Massachusetts. The first
public run of the Duryea Motor Wagon took place on 21 September 1893,
on Taylor Street in Metro Center Springfield.[42][43] Studebaker, subsidiary of
a long-established wagon and coach manufacturer, started to build cars in
1897[44]: 66 and commenced sales of electric vehicles in 1902 and petrol
vehicles in 1904.[45]

In Britain, there had been several attempts to build steam cars with
varying degrees of success, with Thomas Rickett even attempting a
production run in 1860.[46] Santler from Malvern is recognised by the
Veteran Car Club of Great Britain as having made the first petrol-driven
car in the country in 1894,[47] followed by Frederick William Lanchester in
1895, but these were both one-offs.[47] The first production vehicles in
Great Britain came from the Daimler Company, a company founded
by Harry J. Lawson in 1896, after purchasing the right to use the name of
the engines. Lawson's company made its first car in 1897, and they bore
the name Daimler.[47]

In 1892, German engineer Rudolf Diesel was granted a patent for a "New
Rational Combustion Engine". In 1897, he built the first diesel engine.
[37]
Steam-, electric-, and petrol-driven vehicles competed for a few
decades, with petrol internal combustion engines achieving dominance in
the 1910s. Although various pistonless rotary engine designs have
attempted to compete with the conventional piston and crankshaft design,
only Mazda's version of the Wankel engine has had more than very limited
success. All in all, it is estimated that over 100,000 patents created the
modern automobile and motorcycle.[48]

Mass production

See also: Automotive industry

 Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle

Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. Ford Motor

Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s

The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of

all-time.

Large-scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable cars was started

by Ransom Olds in 1901 at his Oldsmobile factory in Lansing, Michigan,
and based upon stationary assembly line techniques pioneered by Marc
Isambard Brunel at the Portsmouth Block Mills, England, in 1802. The
assembly line style of mass production and interchangeable parts had
been pioneered in the US by Thomas Blanchard in 1821, at the Springfield
Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts.[49] This concept was greatly
expanded by Henry Ford, beginning in 1913 with the world's
first moving assembly line for cars at the Highland Park Ford Plant.
As a result, Ford's cars came off the line in 15-minute intervals, much
faster than previous methods, increasing productivity eightfold, while
using less manpower (from 12.5 manhours to 1 hour 33 minutes).[50] It was
so successful, paint became a bottleneck. Only Japan black would dry fast
enough, forcing the company to drop the variety of colours available
before 1913, until fast-drying Duco lacquer was developed in 1926. This is
the source of Ford's apocryphal remark, "any color as long as it's black".
[50]
In 1914, an assembly line worker could buy a Model T with four
months' pay.[50]

Ford's complex safety procedures—especially assigning each worker to a

specific location instead of allowing them to roam about—dramatically
reduced the rate of injury.[51] The combination of high wages and high
efficiency is called "Fordism" and was copied by most major industries.
The efficiency gains from the assembly line also coincided with the
economic rise of the US. The assembly line forced workers to work at a
certain pace with very repetitive motions which led to more output per
worker while other countries were using less productive methods.

In the automotive industry, its success was dominating, and quickly

spread worldwide seeing the founding of Ford France and Ford Britain in
1911, Ford Denmark 1923, Ford Germany 1925; in 1921, Citroën was the
first native European manufacturer to adopt the production method. Soon,
companies had to have assembly lines, or risk going bankrupt; by 1930,
250 companies which did not, had disappeared. [50]

Development of automotive technology was rapid, due in part to the

hundreds of small manufacturers competing to gain the world's attention.
Key developments included electric ignition and the electric self-starter
(both by Charles Kettering, for the Cadillac Motor Company in 1910–1911),
independent suspension, and four-wheel brakes.

Since the 1920s, nearly all cars have been mass-produced to meet market
needs, so marketing plans often have heavily influenced car design. It
was Alfred P. Sloan who established the idea of different makes of cars
produced by one company, called the General Motors Companion Make
Program, so that buyers could "move up" as their fortunes improved.

Reflecting the rapid pace of change, makers shared parts with one
another so larger production volume resulted in lower costs for each price
range. For example, in the 1930s, LaSalles, sold by Cadillac, used cheaper
mechanical parts made by Oldsmobile; in the 1950s, Chevrolet shared
bonnet, doors, roof, and windows with Pontiac; by the 1990s,
corporate powertrains and shared platforms (with interchangeable brakes,
suspension, and other parts) were common. Even so, only major makers
could afford high costs, and even companies with decades of production,
such as Apperson, Cole, Dorris, Haynes, or Premier, could not manage: of
some two hundred American car makers in existence in 1920, only 43
survived in 1930, and with the Great Depression, by 1940, only 17 of
those were left.[50]

In Europe, much the same would happen. Morris set up its production line
at Cowley in 1924, and soon outsold Ford, while beginning in 1923 to
follow Ford's practice of vertical integration, buying Hotchkiss' British
subsidiary (engines), Wrigley (gearboxes), and Osberton (radiators), for
instance, as well as competitors, such as Wolseley: in 1925, Morris had
41 per cent of total British car production. Most British small-car
assemblers, from Abbey to Xtra, had gone under. Citroën did the same in
France, coming to cars in 1919; between them and other cheap cars in
reply such as Renault's 10CV and Peugeot's 5CV, they produced 550,000
cars in 1925, and Mors, Hurtu, and others could not compete.
[50]
Germany's first mass-manufactured car, the Opel 4PS Laubfrosch (Tree
Frog), came off the line at Rüsselsheim in 1924, soon making Opel the top
car builder in Germany, with 37.5 per cent of the market.[50]

In Japan, car production was very limited before World War II. Only a
handful of companies were producing vehicles in limited numbers, and
these were small, three-wheeled for commercial uses, like Daihatsu, or
were the result of partnering with European companies, like Isuzu building
the Wolseley A-9 in 1922. Mitsubishi was also partnered with Fiat and built
the Mitsubishi Model A based on a Fiat
vehicle. Toyota, Nissan, Suzuki, Mazda, and Honda began as companies
producing non-automotive products before the war, switching to car
production during the 1950s. Kiichiro Toyoda's decision to take Toyoda
Loom Works into automobile manufacturing would create what would
eventually become Toyota Motor Corporation, the largest automobile
manufacturer in the world. Subaru, meanwhile, was formed from a
conglomerate of six companies who banded together as Fuji Heavy
Industries, as a result of having been broken up under keiretsu legislation.

Components and design

Propulsion and fuels

See also: Alternative fuel vehicle

 2011 Nissan Leaf electric car

The weight of the low battery stabilises the

car. This is a dual-motor, four-wheel-drive layout but many cars only
[52]

have one motor.

Fossil fuels

Most cars in use in the mid 2020s run on petrol burnt in an internal
combustion engine (ICE). Some cities ban older more polluting petrol-
driven cars and some countries plan to ban sales in future. However,
some environmental groups say this phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles must
be brought forwards to limit climate change. Production of petrol-fuelled
cars peaked in 2017.[53][54]

Other hydrocarbon fossil fuels also burnt by deflagration (rather

than detonation) in ICE cars include diesel, autogas, and CNG. Removal
of fossil fuel subsidies,[55][56] concerns about oil dependence,
tightening environmental laws and restrictions on greenhouse gas
emissions are propelling work on alternative power systems for cars. This
includes hybrid vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles.
As of 2025 one in four cars sold is electric but, [57] despite rapid growth,
less than one in twenty cars on the world's roads were fully
electric and plug-in hybrid cars by the end of 2024.[58] Cars for racing
or speed records have sometimes employed jet or rocket engines, but
these are impractical for common use. Oil consumption has increased
rapidly in the 20th and 21st centuries because there are more cars;
the 1980s oil glut even fuelled the sales of low-economy vehicles
in OECD countries.[citation needed]

Batteries

Main article: Electric vehicle battery

See also: Electric car § Batteries, and Automotive battery

In almost all hybrid (even mild hybrid) and pure electric cars regenerative
braking recovers and returns to a battery some energy which would
otherwise be wasted by friction brakes getting hot. [59] Although all cars
must have friction brakes (front disc brakes and either disc or drum rear
brakes[60]) for emergency stops, regenerative braking improves efficiency,
particularly in city driving.[61]

User interface

Main article: Car controls

In the Ford Model T the left-side hand lever

sets the rear wheel parking brakes and puts the transmission in neutral.
The lever to the right controls the throttle. The lever on the left of the
steering column is for ignition timing. The left foot pedal changes the two
forward gears while the centre pedal controls reverse. The right pedal is
the brake.

Cars are equipped with controls used for driving, passenger comfort, and
safety, normally operated by a combination of the use of feet and hands,
and occasionally by voice on 21st-century cars. These controls include
a steering wheel, pedals for operating the brakes and controlling the car's
speed (and, in a manual transmission car, a clutch pedal), a shift lever or
stick for changing gears, and a number of buttons and dials for turning on
lights, ventilation, and other functions. Modern cars' controls are now
standardised, such as the location for the accelerator and brake, but this
was not always the case. Controls are evolving in response to new
technologies, for example, the electric car and the integration of mobile
communications.

Some of the original controls are no longer required. For example, all cars
once had controls for the choke valve, clutch, ignition timing, and a crank
instead of an electric starter. However, new controls have also been
added to vehicles, making them more complex. These include air
conditioning, navigation systems, and in-car entertainment. Another trend
is the replacement of physical knobs and switches by secondary controls
with touchscreen controls such as BMW's iDrive and Ford's MyFord Touch.
Another change is that while early cars' pedals were physically linked to
the brake mechanism and throttle, in the early 2020s, cars have
increasingly replaced these physical linkages with electronic controls.

Electronics and interior

Panel for fuses and circuit breakers

Cars are typically equipped with interior lighting which can be toggled
manually or be set to light up automatically with doors open,
an entertainment system which originated from car radios,
sideways windows which can be lowered or raised electrically (manually
on earlier cars), and one or multiple auxiliary power outlets for supplying
portable appliances such as mobile phones, portable fridges, power
inverters, and electrical air pumps from the on-board electrical system. [62]
[63][a]
More costly upper-class and luxury cars are equipped with features
earlier such as massage seats and collision avoidance systems.[64][65]

Dedicated automotive fuses and circuit breakers prevent damage

from electrical overload.

Lighting

Main article: Automotive lighting

Audi A4 daytime running lights

Cars are typically fitted with multiple types of lights. These

include headlights, which are used to illuminate the way ahead and make
the car visible to other users, so that the vehicle can be used at night; in
some jurisdictions, daytime running lights; red brake lights to indicate
when the brakes are applied; amber turn signal lights to indicate the turn
intentions of the driver; white-coloured reverse lights to illuminate the
area behind the car (and indicate that the driver will be or is reversing);
and on some vehicles, additional lights (e.g., side marker lights) to
increase the visibility of the car. Interior lights on the ceiling of the car are
usually fitted for the driver and passengers. Some vehicles also have a
boot light and, more rarely, an engine compartment light.

Weight and size

A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV

weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight).[66]

During the late 20th and early 21st century, cars increased in weight due
to batteries,[67] modern steel safety cages, anti-lock brakes, airbags, and
"more-powerful—if more efficient—engines"[68] and, as of 2019, typically
weigh between 1 and 3 tonnes (1.1 and 3.3 short tons; 0.98 and 2.95 long
tons).[69] Heavier cars are safer for the driver from a crash perspective, but
more dangerous for other vehicles and road users. [68] The weight of a car
influences fuel consumption and performance, with more weight resulting
in increased fuel consumption and decreased performance. The Wuling
Hongguang Mini EV, a typical city car, weighs about 700 kilograms
(1,500 lb). Heavier cars include SUVs and extended-length SUVs like
the Suburban. Cars have also become wider.[70]

Some places tax heavier cars more:[71] as well as improving pedestrian

safety this can encourage manufacturers to use materials such as
recycled aluminium instead of steel.[72] It has been suggested that one
benefit of subsidising charging infrastructure is that cars can use lighter
batteries.[73]

Seating and body style

See also: Car body style, Car classification, Truck classification,

and Vehicle size class

Most cars are designed to carry multiple occupants, often with four or five
seats. Cars with five seats typically seat two passengers in the front and
three in the rear. Full-size cars and large sport utility vehicles can often
carry six, seven, or more occupants depending on the arrangement of the
seats. On the other hand, sports cars are most often designed with only
two seats. Utility vehicles like pickup trucks, combine seating with extra
cargo or utility functionality. The differing needs for passenger capacity
and their luggage or cargo space has resulted in the availability of a large
variety of body styles to meet individual consumer requirements that
include, among others, the sedan/saloon, hatchback, station
wagon/estate, coupe, and minivan.

Safety

Main articles: Car safety, Traffic collision, Low-speed vehicle,

and Epidemiology of motor vehicle collisions

Result of a serious car collision

Traffic collisions are the largest cause of injury-related deaths worldwide.

[15]
Mary Ward became one of the first documented car fatalities in 1869
in Parsonstown, Ireland,[74] and Henry Bliss one of the US's first pedestrian
car casualties in 1899 in New York City.[75] There are now standard tests for
safety in new cars, such as the Euro and US NCAP tests,[76] and insurance-
industry-backed tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
[77]
However, not all such tests consider the safety of people outside the
car, such as drivers of other cars, pedestrians and cyclists. [78] Some
countries are tightening safety regulations for new cars, for example to
mandate data recorders and automated braking.[79]

Costs and benefits

Main articles: Economics of car usage, Car costs, and Effects of the car on
societies

Road congestion is an issue in many major

cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing).[80]
The costs of car usage, which may include the cost of: acquiring the
vehicle, repairs and auto maintenance, fuel, depreciation, driving
time, parking fees, taxes, and insurance,[14] are weighed against the cost
of the alternatives, and the value of the benefits—perceived and real—of
vehicle usage. The benefits may include on-demand transportation,
mobility, independence, and convenience, [16][page needed] and emergency
power.[81] During the 1920s, cars had another benefit: "[c]ouples finally
had a way to head off on unchaperoned dates, plus they had a private
space to snuggle up close at the end of the night." [82]

Similarly the costs to society of car use may include; maintaining

roads, land use, air pollution, noise pollution, road congestion, public
health, health care, and of disposing of the vehicle at the end of its life;
and can be balanced against the value of the benefits to society that car
use generates. Societal benefits may include: economy benefits, such as
job and wealth creation, of car production and maintenance,
transportation provision, society wellbeing derived from leisure and travel
opportunities, and revenue generation from the tax opportunities. The
ability of humans to move flexibly from place to place has far-reaching
implications for the nature of societies.[17]

Environmental effects

See also: Exhaust gas, Waste tyres, Environmental effects of

transport, Externalities of automobiles, Noise pollution, Environmental
aspects of the electric car, and Vehicle recycling

Trucks' share of US vehicles produced, has

tripled since 1975. Though vehicle fuel efficiency has increased within
each category, the overall trend toward less efficient types of vehicles has
offset some of the benefits of greater fuel economy and reductions in
pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. [83] Without the shift towards SUVs,
energy use per unit distance could have fallen 30% more than it did from
2010 to 2022.[84] Car exhaust gas is one
type of pollution

Car production and use has a large number of environmental impacts: it

causes local air pollution plastic pollution and contributes to greenhouse
gas emissions and climate change.[85] Cars and vans caused 10% of
energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2022.[86] As of 2023, electric
cars produce about half the emissions over their lifetime as diesel and
petrol cars. This is set to improve as countries produce more of their
electricity from low-carbon sources.[87] Cars consume almost a quarter of
world oil production as of 2019.[53] Cities planned around cars are often
less dense, which leads to further emissions, as they are less walkable for
instance.[85] A growing demand for large SUVs is driving up emissions from
cars.[88]

Cars are a major cause of air pollution,[89] which stems from exhaust gas in
diesel and petrol cars and from dust from brakes, tyres, and road wear.
Larger cars pollute more.[90] Heavy metals and microplastics (from tyres)
are also released into the environment, during production, use and at the
end of life. Mining related to car manufacturing and oil spills both
cause water pollution.[85]

Animals and plants are often negatively affected by cars via habitat
destruction and fragmentation from the road network and pollution.
Animals are also killed every year on roads by cars, referred to as roadkill.
[85]
More recent road developments are including significant environmental
mitigation in their designs, such as green bridges (designed to
allow wildlife crossings) and creating wildlife corridors.

Governments use fiscal policies, such as road tax, to discourage the

purchase and use of more polluting cars; [91] Vehicle emission
standards ban the sale of new highly pollution cars. [92] Many countries plan
to stop selling fossil cars altogether between 2025 and 2050.[93] Various
cities have implemented low-emission zones, banning old fossil fuel
and Amsterdam is planning to ban fossil fuel cars completely. [94][95] Some
cities make it easier for people to choose other forms of transport, such
as cycling.[94] Many Chinese cities limit licensing of fossil fuel cars. [96]

Social issues

Mass production of personal motor vehicles in the United States and other
developed countries with extensive territories such as Australia,
Argentina, and France vastly increased individual and group mobility and
greatly increased and expanded economic development in urban,
suburban, exurban and rural areas.[citation needed] Growth in the popularity of
cars and commuting has led to traffic congestion.
[97]
Moscow, Istanbul, Bogotá, Mexico City and São Paulo were the world's
most congested cities in 2018 according to INRIX, a data analytics
company.[98]

Access to cars

In the United States, the transport divide and car dependency resulting
from domination of car-based transport systems presents barriers to
employment in low-income neighbourhoods,[99] with many low-income
individuals and families forced to run cars they cannot afford in order to
maintain their income.[100] Dependency on automobiles by African
Americans may result in exposure to the hazards of driving while
black and other types of racial discrimination related to buying, financing
and insuring them.[101]

Health impact

Further information: Motor vehicle pollution and pregnancy

Air pollution from cars increases the risk of lung cancer and heart disease.
It can also harm pregnancies: more children are born too early or with
lower birth weight.[85] Children are extra vulnerable to air pollution, as their
bodies are still developing and air pollution in children is linked to the
development of asthma, childhood cancer, and neurocognitive issues such
as autism.[102][85] The growth in popularity of the car allowed cities
to sprawl, therefore encouraging more travel by car, resulting in inactivity
and obesity, which in turn can lead to increased risk of a variety of
diseases.[103] When places are designed around cars, children have fewer
opportunities to go places by themselves, and lose opportunities to
become more independent.[104][85]

Emerging car technologies

Intensive development of conventional battery electric vehicles is

continuing into the 2020s,[105] for example lithium iron phosphate
batteries are safer and cheaper.[106] Sensors such as lidar are more used.
[107]
Other car technologies that are under development include wireless
charging.[108] Software is increasing and may have many new uses, for
example automatically not hitting pedestrians. [109]

New materials which may replace steel car bodies include aluminium,
[110]
fiberglass, carbon fiber, biocomposites, and carbon nanotubes.
[111]
Telematics technology is allowing more and more people to share cars,
on a pay-as-you-go basis, through car share and carpool schemes.
Communication is also evolving due to connected car systems.[112] Open-
source cars are not widespread.[113] Microwave weapons which can disable
cars are being tested.[114]

Autonomous car

Main article: Autonomous car

A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown

at Stanford University is a driverless car.

Fully autonomous vehicles, also known as driverless cars, already exist

as robotaxis[115][116] but have a long way to go before they are in general
use.[117]

Car sharing

Car-share arrangements and carpooling are also increasingly popular, in

the US and Europe.[118] Services like car sharing offer residents to "share" a
vehicle rather than own a car in already congested neighbourhoods. [119]

Industry

Main article: Automotive industry

 A car being assembled in a factory

The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and

sells the world's motor vehicles, more than three-quarters of which are
cars. In 2020, there were 56 million cars manufactured worldwide,
[120]
down from 67 million the previous year.[121] The automotive industry in
China produces by far the most (20 million in 2020), followed by Japan
(seven million), then Germany, South Korea and India. [122] The largest
market is China, followed by the US.

Around the world, there are about a billion cars on the road; [123][failed
verification]
they burn over a trillion litres (0.26×1012 US gal;
0.22×1012 imp gal) of petrol and diesel fuel yearly, consuming about
50 exajoules (14,000 TWh) of energy.[124] The numbers of cars are
increasing rapidly in China and India. [125] In the opinion of some, urban
transport systems based around the car have proved unsustainable,
consuming excessive energy, affecting the health of populations, and
delivering a declining level of service despite increasing investment. Many
of these negative effects fall disproportionately on those social groups
who are also least likely to own and drive cars. [126][127] The sustainable
transport movement focuses on solutions to these problems. The car
industry is also facing increasing competition from the public transport
sector, as some people re-evaluate their private vehicle usage. In July
2021, the European Commission introduced the "Fit for 55" legislation
package, outlining crucial directives for the automotive sector's future. [128]
[129]
According to this package, by 2035, all newly sold cars in the
European market must be Zero-emissions vehicles.[130][131][132]

Alternatives

Main article: Alternatives to car use

 The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest
bikesharing system outside China.

Established alternatives for some aspects of car use include public

transport such as busses, trolleybusses, trains, subways, tramways, light
rail, cycling, and walking. Bicycle sharing systems have been established
in China and many European cities,
including Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Similar programmes have been
developed in large US cities.[133][134] Additional individual modes of
transport, such as personal rapid transit could serve as an alternative to
cars if they prove to be socially accepted. [135] A study which checked the
costs and the benefits of introducing Low Traffic
Neighbourhood in London found the benefits overpass the costs
approximately by 100 times in the first 20 years and the difference is
growing over time.[136]

Car Motorsport

Main article: Motorsport

This section needs

expansion. You can
help by making an
edit
request. (September
2025)

As well as used for typical driving, motorsport (excluding other types of

motorsport) is a type of sport, involving High Speed Racing, drifting It
includes various other racing series such as Formula One, NASCAR, and
MotoGP.[137][138][139][140][141]

See also

 Cars portal

Main article: Outline of automobiles

General: Effects: Mit

  Automotive safety  Car dependency 

 Car classification  Effects of the car on societies 

 Car costs  Energy consumption of cars 

 Green vehicle  Environmental effects of 

transport
 Jaywalking 
 Externalities of automobiles
 Model vehicle 
 Fenceline community
 Motor vehicle fatality rate in U.S. by 
year  Mobile source air pollution

 Motor vehicle theft  Noise pollution

 Peak car  Roadway noise

 Steering  Traffic congestion

 Traffic collision  Urban sprawl

Notes

1. Auxiliary power outlets may be supplied continuously or only

when the ignition is active depending on electrical wiring.

References

1. Fowler, H.W.; Fowler, F.G., eds. (1976). Pocket Oxford

Dictionary. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198611134.

2. "motor car, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press.

September 2014. Archived from the original on 8 December
2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.

3. admin (24 June 2021). "How Many Cars Are There In The
World [2025]?". Hedges & Company. Retrieved 13
September 2025.

4. "Some milestones of the auto age". The New York Times. 26

January 1986. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 June 2023.

5. Birch, Ryan (14 June 2024). "Best American cars of all time -
Oldsmobile Curved Dash". Auto Express. Retrieved 10
August 2024.

6. "1926 Ford Model T Sports Touring Car". Washington

Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
7. "Model T - Ford, Car & Invented". History. 13 March 2024.
Retrieved 10 August 2024.

8. Hoekstra, Kyle (25 April 2022). "Ford Model T: The Invention

of the World's First Affordable Car". History Hit. Retrieved 10
August 2024.

9. "The Motor Vehicle, 1917". Scientific American. January

2017. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022.
Retrieved 16 January 2023.

10. "Automobile History". [Link]. 21 August

2018. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018.
Retrieved 29 August 2021.

11. "Automobile Industry Introduction". Plunkett Research.

Archived from the original on 22 July 2011.

12. Smith, Matthew Nitch (22 April 2016). "The number of

cars worldwide is set to double by 2040". World Economic
Forum.

13. "Factcheck: How electric vehicles help to tackle climate

change". Carbon Brief. 13 May 2019. Archived from the
original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2020.

14. "Car Operating Costs". RACV. Archived from the

original on 7 October 2009. Retrieved 22 December 2009.

15. Peden, Margie; Scurfield, Richard; Sleet, David; Mohan,

Dinesh; Hyder, Adnan A.; Jarawan, Eva; Mathers, Colin, eds.
(2004). World report on road traffic injury prevention. World
Health Organization. ISBN 92-4-156260-9. Archived from the
original on 4 May 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2008.

16. Setright, L. J. K. (2004). Drive On!: A Social History of

the Motor Car. Granta Books. ISBN 1-86207-698-7.

17. Jakle, John A.; Sculle, Keith A. (2004). Lots of Parking:

Land Use in a Car Culture. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 0-
8139-2266-6.

18. "Car". (etymology). Online Etymology

Dictionary. Archived from the original on 6 March 2008.
Retrieved 2 June 2008.

19. "Wayne State University and The Detroit Public Library

Present "Changing Face of the Auto Industry"". Wayne State
 University. 28 June 2003. Archived from the original on 28
June 2003.

20. "car, n.1". OED Online. Oxford University Press.

September 2014. Archived from the original on 8 December
2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.

21. "A dictionary of the Welsh language" (PDF). University

of Wales. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 October 2014.
Retrieved 15 June 2016.

22. "auto-, comb. form2". OED Online. Oxford University

Press. September 2014. Archived from the original on 8
December 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.

23. "Definition of horseless carriage". Merriam-

Webster. Archived from the original on 13 June 2015.
Retrieved 23 November 2015.

24. "Prospective Arrangements". The Times. 4 December

1897. p. 13.

25. "automobile, adj. and n." OED Online. Oxford University

Press. September 2014. Archived from the original on 8
December 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.

26. "Definition of "auto"". Cambridge

Dictionary. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015.
Retrieved 19 August 2015.

27. "Definition of auto". Merriam-Webster. Archived from

the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 23
November 2015.

28. Dimitris (16 July 2016). "Dimitris' Diary: Stuttgart,

cradle of the automobile and the imperial family". Go Easy
Berlin. Germany. Retrieved 22 November 2023.

29. "USAG Stuttgart". Military One Source. US. 17 August

2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.

30. Barker, Theo (1987). The Economic and Social Effects

of the Spread of Motor Vehicles: An International Centenary
Tribute (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. p. 55. ISBN 978-
1349086269.

31. "A broadside on a clockwork carriage built by Hans

Hautsch". British Museum. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
32. "1679-1681–R P Verbiest's Steam Chariot". History of
the Automobile: origin to 1900. Hergé. Archived from the
original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2009.

33. "A brief note on Ferdinand Verbiest". Curious

Expeditions. 2 July 2007. Archived from the original on 10
March 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2008. – The vehicle pictured is
the 20th century diecast model made by Brumm, of a later
vehicle, not a model based on Verbiest's plans.

34. "Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot". Encyclopædia

Britannica. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015.
Retrieved 2 June 2022.

35. [Link]. "Niepce Museum, Other Inventions".

[Link]. Archived from the original on 20
December 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2010.

36. Lazarnick, Nick (30 July 1907). "Henry Ford posing in

Ford-Lenoir automobile". detroit public library. Archived from
the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 20
February 2023.

37. Stein, Ralph (1967). The Automobile Book. Paul

Hamlyn.

38. Wakefield, Ernest H. (1994). History of the Electric

Automobile. Society of Automotive Engineers. pp. 2–
3. ISBN 1-56091-299-5.

39. "1885–1886. The first automobile".

Daimler. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018.
Retrieved 30 July 2021.

40. Garrison, Ervan G. (2018). History of Engineering and

Technology: Artful Methods. Routledge. p. 272. ISBN 978-
1351440486.

41. "Bertha Benz Hits the Road, 125 Years Ago – History in
the Headlines". [Link]. Archived from the original on 24
September 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.

42. "The First Car – A History of the Automobile".

[Link]. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.
Retrieved 17 July 2011.

43. "The Duryea Brothers – Automobile History".

[Link]. 16 September 2010. Archived from the
original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
44. Longstreet, Stephen. A Century on Wheels: The Story of
Studebaker. New York: Henry Holt. p. 121. 1st edn., 1952.

45. Clymer, Floyd (1950). Treasury of Early American

Automobiles, 1877–1925. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 178.

46. Burgess Wise, D. (1970). Veteran and Vintage Cars.

London: Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-00283-7.

47. Georgano, N. (2000). Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the

Automobile. London: HMSO. ISBN 1-57958-293-1.

48. Jerina, Nataša G. (May 2014). "Turin Charter ratified by

FIVA". TICCIH. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018.
Retrieved 11 March 2018.

49. "Industrialization of American Society". [Link].

Archived from the original on 19 September 2010.
Retrieved 17 July 2011.

50. Georgano, G. N. (2000). Vintage Cars 1886 to 1930.

Sweden: AB Nordbok. ISBN 1-85501-926-4.

51. Hendrickson, Kenneth E., ed. (2014). The encyclopedia

of the industrial revolution in world history. Lanham: Rowman
& Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8108-8888-
3. OCLC 913956423.

52. "Are Electric Vehicles Safe?". [Link].

Retrieved 22 January 2024. EVs are mostly all built like a
skateboard, with the battery pack on the bottom of the car.
This gives them amazing cornering and handling, and makes
them very hard to flip.

53. "October: Growing preference for SUVs challenges

emissions reductions in passenger car
mark". IEA. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019.
Retrieved 18 October 2019.

54. "Bloomberg NEF Electric Vehicle Outlook 2019".

Bloomberg NEF. 15 May 2019. Archived from the original on 3
June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.

55. "Govt to completely lift fuel subsidies in 2020:

minister". Egypt Independent. 8 January 2019. Archived from
the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.

56. "Why the Rouhani administration must eliminate

energy subsidies". Al-Monitor. 9 December 2018.
57. "Global Electric Vehicle Sales Set for Record-Breaking
Year, Even as US Market Slows Sharply, BloombergNEF
Finds". BloombergNEF. 18 June 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.

58. "Share of cars currently in use that are electric". Our

World in Data. Archived from the original on 27 April 2025.
Retrieved 25 May 2025.

59. Cline, Amanda (25 December 2021). "What Is a Mild

Hybrid Vehicle?". MotorBiscuit. Archived from the original on
16 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.

60. "Why Drum Brakes Works on

EVs". Benevelli. Archived from the original on 16 January
2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.

61. "Regenerative Braking: Benefits and Limitations". The

Brake Report. 31 May 2022. Archived from the original on 16
January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.

62. "VW Golf: Innenleuchten" (in German). Archived from

the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.

63. "[…] Kühlboxen im Test […]". auto motor und sport (in
German). 24 May 2017. Archived from the original on 26
October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.

64. "Alle Infos von der neuen Mercedes S-Klasse 2013

(W222)". [Link] (in German). 16 May
2013. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021.
Retrieved 26 October 2021.

65. "Mercedes-Benz S-Klasse 2013: Alle Details und Fotos

des neuen Alphatiers". Speed Heads (in German).
2013. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021.
Retrieved 26 October 2021.

66. "Used 2008 Chevrolet Suburban Features &

Specs". Edmunds. Archived from the original on 25 November
2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.

67. "How much do electric cars weigh?". EV

Archive. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019.
Retrieved 1 December 2019.

68. Lowrey, Annie (27 June 2011). "Your Big Car Is Killing
Me". Slate. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015.
Retrieved 25 November 2015.
69. Sellén, Magnus (2 August 2019). "How much does a Car
Weigh? – [Weight List by Car Model & Type]". Mechanic
Base. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019.
Retrieved 1 December 2019.

70. Niranjan, Ajit (22 January 2024). "SUVs drive trend for
new cars to grow 1cm wider in UK and EU every two years,
says report". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22
January 2024.

71. Niranjan, Ajit (22 January 2024). "SUVs drive trend for
new cars to grow 1cm wider in UK and EU every two years,
says report". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22
January 2024. France has …. penalties that cover the weight
of a car.

72. Shaffer, Blake; Auffhammer, Maximilian; Samaras,

Constantine (October 2021). "Make electric vehicles lighter to
maximize climate and safety
benefits". Nature. 598 (7880): 254–256. Bibcod
e:2021Natur.598..254S. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-02760-8. IS
SN 0028-0836. PMID 34642477. S2CID 238747321. Archived
from the original on 14 October 2021. Retrieved 15
October 2021.

73. "How big a battery should you insist on for your electric
car?". [Link]. 9 April 2022. Archived from the original on
2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.

74. "Mary Ward 1827–1869". [Link]. Archived

from the original on 11 March 2008. Retrieved 27
October 2008.

75. "Bliss plaque". CityStreets. Archived from the

original on 26 August 2006.

76. "[Link]". NHTSA. Archived from the original on

27 July 2004.

77. "IIHS-HLDI". IIHS-HLDI crash testing and highway

safety. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018.
Retrieved 1 December 2022.

78. "Americans' love affair with big cars is killing

them". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 21
September 2024.
79. "New rules to improve road safety and enable fully
driverless vehicles in the EU". European Commission -
European Commission. Retrieved 21 June 2025.

80. Fran Tonkiss (2005). Space, the city and social theory:
social relations and urban forms. Polity.

81. "Ford's Affordable EV Charger Will Let an F-150 Power

Your Home". Review Geek. March 2022. Archived from the
original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.

82. Anthony, Ariana (9 May 2013). "Dating in the 1920s:

Lipstick, Booze and the Origins of Slut-Shaming |
HowAboutWe". The Huffington Post. Archived from the
original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.

83. "Highlights of the Automotive Trends Report". [Link].

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 12 December
2022. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023.

84. Cazzola, Pierpaolo; Paoli, Leonardo; Teter, Jacob

(November 2023). "Trends in the Global Vehicle Fleet 2023 /
Managing the SUV Shift and the EV Transition" (PDF). Global
Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI).
p. 3. doi:10.7922/G2HM56SV. Archived (PDF) from the
original on 26 November 2023.

85. Miner, Patrick; Smith, Barbara M.; Jani, Anant; McNeill,

Geraldine; Gathorne-Hardy, Alfred (1 February 2024). "Car
harm: A global review of automobility's harm to people and
the environment". Journal of Transport
Geography. 115 103817. Bibcode:2024JTGeo.11503817M. do
i:10.1016/[Link].2024.103817. ISSN 0966-6923.

86. "Cars and Vans – Analysis". IEA. Retrieved 3

December 2024.

87. "Outlook for emissions reductions – Global EV Outlook

2024 – Analysis". IEA. Retrieved 3 December 2024.

88. "SUVs are setting new sales records each year – and so
are their emissions – Analysis". IEA. 28 May 2024. Retrieved 3
December 2024.

89. Sengupta, Somini; Popovich, Nadja (14 November

2019). "Cities Worldwide Are Reimagining Their Relationship
With Cars". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-
 4331. Archived from the original on 4 December 2019.
Retrieved 1 December 2019.

90. "Electric vehicles also cause air pollution". The

Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 25 May 2025.

91. "A Review and Comparative Analysis of Fiscal Policies

Associated with New Passenger Vehicle CO2
Emissions" (PDF). International Council on Clean
Transportation. February 2011. Archived (PDF) from the
original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2013.

92. "Tough Euro 7 pollution rules planned for adoption this

month". Automotive News Europe. 10 October
2022. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022.
Retrieved 24 October 2022.

93. Carroll, Sean Goulding (5 July 2022). "A seismic shift:

Support for ICE melts as Europe warms to
EVs". [Link]. Archived from the original on 7 July
2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.

94. Sherwood, Harriet (26 January 2020). "Brighton, Bristol,

York ... city centres signal the end of the road for cars". The
Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived from the original on 26
January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2020.

95. Boffey, Daniel (3 May 2019). "Amsterdam to ban petrol

and diesel cars and motorbikes by 2030". The
Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 7
September 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2019.

96. Lambert, Fred (6 June 2019). "China boosts electric car

sales by removing license plate
quotas". Electrek. Archived from the original on 8 November
2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.

97. "Planning and the Complicated Causes and Effects of

Congestion". [Link]. Archived from the original
on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.

98. Newman, Katelyn (12 February 2019). "Cities With the

World's Worst Traffic Congestion". US News. Archived from
the original on 18 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.

99. "Tackling transport-related barriers to employment in

low-income neighbourhoods". JRF. 6 August
 2018. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021.
Retrieved 13 April 2021.

100. Mattioli, Giulio (28 December 2017). "'Forced Car

Ownership' in the UK and Germany: Socio-Spatial Patterns and
Potential Economic Stress Impacts". Social
Inclusion. 5 (4): 147–160. doi:10.17645/si.v5i4.1081.

101. Andrew Ross; Julie Livingston (15 December

2022). "Once You See the Truth About Cars, You Can't Unsee
It". The New York Times. No. New York Times. Archived from
the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 16
December 2022. Andrew Ross and Julie Livingston are New
York University professors, members of NYU's Prison
Education Program Research Lab and authors of the book
"Cars and Jails: Freedom Dreams, Debt, and Carcerality."

102. Brumberg, Heather L.; Karr, Catherine J.; Bole, Aparna;

Ahdoot, Samantha; Balk, Sophie J.; Bernstein, Aaron S.; Byron,
Lori G.; Landrigan, Philip J.; Marcus, Steven M.; Nerlinger, Abby
L.; Pacheco, Susan E.; Woolf, Alan D.; Zajac, Lauren; Baum,
Carl R.; Campbell, Carla C. (1 June 2021). "Ambient Air
Pollution: Health Hazards to Children". Pediatrics. 147 (6):
e2021051484. doi:10.1542/peds.2021-051484. ISSN 0031-
4005. PMID 34001642.

103. "Our Ailing Communities". Metropolis Magazine.

Archived from the original on 8 February 2007.

104. Weir, Holly (1 January 2023). "Children's autonomous

mobility and their well-being". Wellbeing, Space and
Society. 4 100134. doi:10.1016/[Link].2023.100134. ISSN 266
6-5581.

105. "EV battery research projects get £55m funding

boost". Air Quality News. 5 September 2019. Archived from
the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5
September 2019.

106. "New EV batteries are making electric cars cheaper and

safer". The Washington Post. 19 February 2025. Archived
from the original on 7 April 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.

107. Redondo, Mónica (11 February 2022). "LiDar sensors:

how their use in the automotive industry is growing". Driving
ECO. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
108. "Wireless electric car charging gets cash boost". 9 July
2019. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019.
Retrieved 3 January 2020.

109. "Driving the future: 10 automotive industry trends and

predictions". Archived from the original on 23 January 2025.
Retrieved 21 June 2025.

110. "Survey reveals aluminum remains fastest growing

automotive material". Automotive World. 12 August
2020. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021.
Retrieved 15 October 2021.

111. Vyas, Kashyap (3 October 2018). "This New Material

Can Transform the Car Manufacturing Industry". Interesting
Engineering. Turkey. Archived from the original on 16
September 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.

112. "Inside Uniti's plan to build the iPhone of

EVs". [Link]. Archived from the original on 3 July
2017. Retrieved 26 June 2017.

113. "Geek My Ride presentation at [Link] 2009".

Archived from the original on 11 April 2011. Retrieved 11
July 2010.

114. "This giant microwave may change the future of

war". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 21 June 2025.

115. "China's Xpeng passes autonomous driving test in race

to launch robotaxis". South China Morning Post. 25 October
2022. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022.
Retrieved 24 October 2022.

116. "8 Ways Waymo's Autonomous Taxi Surprised Us on a

Ride". Consumer Reports. 4 October 2022. Archived from the
original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.

117. Mims, Christopher (5 June 2021). "Self-Driving Cars

Could Be Decades Away, No Matter What Elon Musk
Said". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-
9660. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021.
Retrieved 2 September 2021.

118. "Global Automotive Consumer Study – exploring

consumer preferences and mobility choices in Europe" (PDF).
Deloitte. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July
2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
119. "Flexcar Expands to Philadelphia". Green Car Congress.
2 April 2007. Archived from the original on 9 July 2007.
Retrieved 12 April 2007.

120. "2020 Statistics". OICA. Archived from the original on 2

April 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2021.

121. "2019 Statistics". OICA. Archived from the original on

20 November 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.

122. "2018 Statistics". OICA. Archived from the original on

19 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.

123. "PC World Vehicles in Use" (PDF).

OICA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September
2021. Retrieved 16 March 2019.

124. "Global Transportation Energy Consumption:

Examination of Scenarios to 2040 using ITEDD" (PDF). Energy
Information Administration. September
2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 May 2019.
Retrieved 16 March 2019.

125. "Automobile Industry Introduction". Plunkett Research.

Archived from the original on 22 July 2011.

126. "Transport and health". World Health Organisation,

Europe. Archived from the original on 29 May 2011.
Retrieved 29 August 2008.

127. "Global Action for Healthy Streets: Annual Report

2018" (PDF). FiA Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2019.[permanent
dead link]

128. "EU ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from
2035 explained". Topics | European Parliament. 11 March
2022. Retrieved 17 December 2024.

129. "European Green Deal: Commission proposes

transformation of EU economy and society to meet climate
ambitions". European Commission - European Commission.
Retrieved 17 December 2024.

130. "New cars sold in EU must be zero-emission from

2035". 28 March 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2024.

131. "Thảm lót sàn ô tô" (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 17

December 2024.
 132. philcurry (14 July 2021). "Fit for 55: EU introduces ban
on petrol and diesel cars by 2035". Autovista24. Retrieved 17
December 2024.

133. "About Bike Share Programs". Tech Bikes MIT. Archived

from the original on 20 December 2007. Retrieved 17
August 2019.

134. Cambell, Charlie (2 April 2018). "The Trouble with

Sharing: China's Bike Fever Has Reached Saturation
Point". Time. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019.
Retrieved 18 August 2019.

135. Kay, Jane Holtz (1998). Asphalt Nation: how the

automobile took over America, and how we can take it back.
University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21620-2.

136. Walker, Peter (8 March 2024). "Health gains of low-

traffic schemes up to 100 times greater than costs, study
finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2024.

137. "Everything you need to know about

F1". [Link]. Retrieved 21 September 2025.

138. "Behind the Wheel: Understanding NASCAR Racing for

New Fans". [Link]. Retrieved 21
September 2025.

139. "Drifting". Motorsport UK. Retrieved 21

September 2025.

140. Insurance, Quote Sports. "Types of Motorsport

Explained - Quote Sports
Insurance". [Link]. Retrieved 21
September 2025.

141. "Motorsport Explained: MotoGP". parc femme. 4

February 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.

Further reading

 Berger, Michael L. (2001). The automobile in American history and

culture: a reference guide. US: Bloomsbury
Publishing. ISBN 9780313016066.

 Brinkley, Douglas (2003). Wheels for the world: Henry Ford, his
company, and a century of progress, 1903-2003.
Viking. ISBN 9780670031818.
  Cole, John; Cole, Francis (213). A Geography of the European Union.
London: Routledge. p. 110. ISBN 9781317835585. – Number of cars
in use (in millions) in various European countries in 1973 and 1992

 Halberstam, David (1986). The Reckoning. New York:

Morrow. ISBN 0-688-04838-2.

 Kay, Jane Holtz (1997). Asphalt nation : how the automobile took
over America, and how we can take it back. New York:
Crown. ISBN 0-517-58702-5.

 Margolius, Ivan (2020). "What is an automobile?". The

Automobile. 37 (11): 48–52. ISSN 0955-1328.

 Sachs, Wolfgang (1992). For love of the automobile: looking back

into the history of our desires. Berkeley: University of California
Press. ISBN 0-520-06878-5.

 Wilkins, Mira; Hill, Frank Ernest (1964). American Business Abroad:

Ford on Six Continents.

 Williams, Heathcote (1991). Autogeddon. New York: Arcade. ISBN 1-

55970-176-5.

 Latin America: Economic Growth Trends. US: Agency for

International Development, Office of Statistics and Reports. 1972.
p. 11. – Number of motor vehicles registered in Latin America in
1970

 World Motor Vehicle Production and Registration . US: Business and

Defense Services Administration, Transportation Equipment
Division. p. 3. – Number of registered passenger cars in various
countries in 1959-60 and 1969–70

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Car.

English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

California AB 1493
 Look up car in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

 Media related to Automobiles at Wikimedia Commons

 Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

 Forum for the Automobile and Society

 Transportation Statistics Annual Report 1996: Transportation and the

Environment by Fletcher, Wendell; Sedor, Joanne; p. 219 (contains
figures on vehicle registrations in various countries in 1970 and
1992)

terior





 

esign

 
 

 

 









 


 

 











 

motive design


 





 


 

 





 


 

 





al combustion engine











v

train





 





is control system





 

v
e

motive industry

 


 

 


 

 





 


 

v
e

e transport





 





rity control databases

Categories:

 Cars

 Private transport

 Vehicles by type

 Wheeled vehicles

 German inventions

 19th-century inventions

 Motor vehicles
  This page was last edited on 21 October 2025, at 23:30 (UTC).

 Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike

4.0 License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you
agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a
registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit
organization.

 Privacy policy

 About Wikipedia

 Disclaimers

 Contact Wikipedia

 Code of Conduct

 Developers

 Statistics

 Cookie statement

 Mobile view