Automobiles are powered by engines that use gasoline, diesel fuel or kerosene to work. They have transmissions that transfer the engine’s power to driving wheels (caterpillars). Automobiles equip themselves with chassis, bodywork, electrical equipment and service devices. They can travel over many types of terrain such as roads, highways, country roads and deserts. They are a major mode of transportation around the world and there are about 59 million various cars produced annually.
Automobiles allow people to travel long distances, opening up more opportunities for work and socializing with others. They also allow people to live in one place while working in another. This provides families with the security of knowing that they can travel to where they want and need to be at any time without having to depend on someone else’s schedule or vehicle.
Modern life would be almost inconceivable, or at least highly inconvenient, without automobiles. They are the backbone of a new consumer goods-oriented society. They are the major customers of the petroleum industry, and they help drive the technologies of other ancillary industries such as steel and rubber.
Karl Benz, an engineer from Germany, invented the first automobile in 1885. Other inventors and engineers followed with their own designs. In the early 1900s Henry Ford introduced a car that was affordable to middle-class America. Ford’s manufacturing methods, such as the assembly line, helped him turn out automobiles rapidly and at a lower cost.
The automobile revolutionized American culture, allowing Americans to own a wealth of expensive consumer goods and enjoy a wide range of leisure activities. It was a powerful force for change in twentieth-century America, and it is now a blending factor as we enter a new age of electronic media.
An automobile is a motor vehicle designed to carry a driver and a small number of additional passengers, but not a lot of cargo. Its development is closely associated with the development of industrialization and urbanization in the western world, as well as changes in lifestyle, especially in the United States and Great Britain. Historically, it has been used as a primary means of transport, even in the developing world. Increasingly, however, it has been replaced by busses, passenger trains and subways. Air pollution from automobiles is a problem in some cities. Combined with other sources of air pollution, it is contributing to global warming. Nevertheless, most people continue to prefer personal transport to other forms of public transportation. Moreover, the safety and comfort that an automobile affords is not easily duplicated by other modes of transport. This has made it a key factor in many countries’ economic growth. These developments are likely to continue into the future as more of the world’s population shifts to living in cities and other high-density areas. This will require the development of alternative modes of transport such as electric cars and hybrid vehicles. These are expected to become the dominant form of cars as the world moves away from traditional internal combustion engines.
