Automobile





An automobile, usually called a car (an old word for carriage), is a wheeled,
self-powered vehicle, meaning it carries its own engine. (An older term is
motorcar, meaning motorised carriage.) It has seats for the driver and passengers.

The vehicle is designed to travel on roads, although some, notably sport
utility vehicles, allow off-road driving. Roads and highways are shared with
other traffic such as motorcycles, tractor trailer and farm implements. The
typical vehicle has just an internal combustion engine and four wheels,
although as of 2002 gas-electric hybrid engine powered cars have begun to
enter the market. Other vehicles run on electricity and fuel cells.
Three-wheeled automobiles have been built, but are not common due to
stability problems.

Automobiles/cars come in configurations such as

   * Bubble car
   * Convertible
   * Hatchback
   * Sedan
   * Sports coupˇ
   * Coupˇ convertible
   * Station wagon or Estate car
   * Sport utility vehicles (SUVs)
   * Pickup trucks
   * Truck (or lorry)
   * Van and minivan.

The first vehicles were steam engine powered, then electric vehicles were
produced by a small number of manufacturers. Later on gasoline (petrol) and
diesel engines were implemented.

While steam-powered vehicles were devised as the late 18th century, it is
generally claimed that the first automobiles with an internal combustion
engine, the first modern cars, were completed almost simultaneously in 1886
by German inventors working independently, Gottlieb Daimler on 3 July 1886
in Mannheim and later Karl Benz and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart.

On November 5, 1895, George B. Selden was granted the first U.S. patent for
an automobile.

The large scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was
developed by Henry Ford in the 1910s. Early automobiles were often referred
to as 'horseless carriages', which gives some idea of their design.

Alternative fuels for the gasoline (or petrol) engine have been around for
many years. During World War II, coal gas was used. Methanol and ethanol
(alcohols) are used as petrol extenders in some countries, notably in
Australia and the United States. Methanol is often used as a fuel for racing
cars.

Automobiles have changed the world with the advent of personal rapid
transit. The automobile had a particulary strong impact on America.

In many countries, plentiful supplies of natural gas have seen methane sold
as compressed natural gas (CNG) and propane sold as liquified petroleum gas
(LPG) alongside petrol and diesel fuels since the 1970s. While a standard
automotive engine will run on these fuels, there are some performance
differences, notably a loss of power, due to the slower combustion of the
alternative fuels. The power loss can often be reduced or eliminated by
retuning the engine ignition, or fitting an electronic dual fuel ignition
system that compensates for the slower burning fuel. The need to equip
filling stations and vehicles with pressure vessels to hold these gaseous
fuels and the more stringent safety inspections means that they are only
economical in high mileage vehicles or if there are installation incentives.
They are most economical where petrol has high taxes and the alternative
fuels do not.

The many varieties of automobile racing (also called motorcar racing)
collectively constitute one of the most popular categories of sport in the world.

Safety

Accidents seem as old as automobile vehicles themselves. Joseph Cugnot
crashed his steam-powered "Fardier" against a wall in 1770. The first
recorded automobile fatality was Henry Bliss on September 13, 1899 in New
York, New York.

Every year thousands of people are killed in traffic, either by crashing
into something, or by being crashed into. Major factors in accidents include
driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, inattentive driving,
overtired driving, road hazards such as snow, potholes and animals, and
reckless driving. Special safety features have been built into cars for
years (some for the safety of car's occupants only, some for the safety of
others):

   * ABS, Anti-lock Braking System, which prevents the car from skidding
   * Airbags, which inflate in a crash to cushion the blow of a head on the
     dashboard
   * ESP, Electronic Skid Prevention.
   * crumple zones, which buffers the impact when the car hits something
   * seat belts (or safety belts), which keep a person from being thrown
     forward
   * cage construction

There are standard tests for safety in new automobiles, like the EuroNCAP.
Despite these technological advances, the death toll of car accidents
remains high: about 40,000 people die every year in the US, a number which
increases annually in line with rising population and increased travel
(although the rate per capita and per mile travelled decreases steadily),
and a similar number in Europe. A much higher number of accidents result in
permanent disability.

Renewable energy and the future

With heavy taxes on fuel, particularly in Europe, tightening environmental
laws in the United States, particularly in California, and the possibility
of further restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, work on alternative
power systems for vehicles continues.

Nowadays diesel cars can use 100% pure biodiesel, a fuel made from vegetable oils.

Attempts at building viable battery-powered electric vehicles continued
throughout the 1990s (notably General Motors with the EV1), but cost, speed
and inferior driving range made them unviable.

Current research and development is centred on "hybrid" vehicles that use
both electric and combustion (pollution) power, and longer-term efforts are
based around electric vehicles powered by fuel cells.

Other alternatives being explored involve methane and hydrogen-burning
vehicles, fuel cells, and even the stored energy of compressed air (see Air
Engine).

Carpooling

Carpooling is shared use of a car, in particular for going to work, often by
people who each have a car but travel together to save costs. Also there are
sometimes special facilities such as carpool lanes, specially for cars with
multiple riders.