Car

A motor vehicle that has wheels is referred to as a car or an automobile. The majority of definitions of "car" suggest that the vehicles are generally designed to be driven on roadways, have four wheels, can seat one to eight people, and are mostly used for the transportation of people as opposed to goods.

In 1769, French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot produced the first steam-driven road vehicle, and in 1808, Swiss inventor Francois Isaac de Rivaz conceived and manufactured the first car powered by internal combustion. In 1886, German inventor Carl Benz received a patent for his Benz Patent-Motorwagen, which is considered to be the precursor of the modern vehicle. The modern car is an automobile that is both practical and marketable for usage on a daily basis. During the 20th century, there was an explosion in the availability of commercial automobiles. The 1908 Ford Model T, an economical automobile produced in the United States by the Ford Motor Company, was one of the first vehicles that was accessible to the general public. In a short amount of time, people in the United States switched from using horse-drawn carriages to cars. It wasn't until after globe War II that there was a significant uptick in demand for vehicles throughout Europe and the rest of the globe. The automobile is often regarded as an essential component of industrialised economies.

Controls for driving, parking, passenger comfort, and a variety of lighting are often included in automobiles. Vehicles have gradually become more difficult to operate as a result of the gradual addition of new components and controls over the course of many decades. These features include of cameras that monitor the area behind the vehicle, air conditioning, GPS systems, and in-car entertainment systems. In the early 2020s, the vast majority of automobiles on the road are powered by internal combustion engines, which get their energy from the burning of fossil fuels. Electric vehicles, although were conceived very early on in the history of the automobile, did not become commercially viable until the 2000s. However, it is anticipated that electric cars would cost cheaper to purchase than petrol automobiles by the year 2025. The shift away from vehicles powered by fossil fuels and towards electric vehicles featured significantly in the majority of scenarios for mitigating the effects of climate change, such as Project Drawdown's list of 100 actionable solutions for climate change.

Using a vehicle comes with both advantages and disadvantages. The person will incur expenditures such as purchasing the vehicle, making interest payments (if the automobile is financed), making repairs and maintenance payments, purchasing gasoline, experiencing depreciation, logging driving hours, paying parking fees, taxes, and insurance. Maintaining roads and land usage, dealing with traffic congestion, contributing to air pollution and noise pollution, endangering public health, and disposing of vehicles at the end of their useful lives are all expenses that society must bear. Accidents involving motor vehicles are the leading cause of mortality due to injury in every region of the globe.Transportation on demand, mobility, freedom, and convenience are some of the personal advantages of ridesharing. The supply of transportation, the development of jobs and riches in the automotive sector, the improvement of social well-being as a result of increased options for leisure and travel, and the generating of money through taxes are all examples of the economic advantages that may accrue to a society. The degree to which individuals are able to migrate freely from one location to another has a significant bearing on the composition of the society that they inhabit.

There are around one billion automobiles on the road throughout the globe. The use of automobiles is quickly expanding around the world, particularly in China, India, and other recently industrialised nations.