Portal:Cars

The Cars Portal

An electric car charging station at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This station is run by Petrobras and uses solar energy.

A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people, not cargo.

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. One of the first cars affordable by the masses was the Ford Model T, begun in 1908, an American car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Cars were rapidly adopted in the US, where they replaced horse-drawn carriages. In Europe and other parts of the world, demand for automobiles did not increase until after World War II. The car is considered an essential part of the developed economy.

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 are predicted to cost less to buy than petrol-driven cars before 2025. The transition from fossil fuel-powered cars to electric cars features prominently in most climate change mitigation scenarios, such as Project Drawdown's 100 actionable solutions for climate change. (Full article...)

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Electric vehicle warning sounds are sounds designed to alert pedestrians to the presence of electric drive vehicles such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) travelling at low speeds. Warning sound devices were deemed necessary by some government regulators because vehicles operating in all-electric mode produce less noise than traditional combustion engine vehicles and can make it more difficult for pedestrians and cyclists (especially those with visual impairments) to be aware of their presence. Warning sounds may be driver triggered (as in a horn but less urgent) or automatic at low speeds; in type, they vary from clearly artificial (beeps, chimes) to those that mimic engine sounds and those of tires moving over gravel.

Japan issued guidelines for such warning devices in January 2010 and the U.S. approved legislation in December 2010. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued its final ruling in February 2018, and requires the device to emit warning sounds when travelling at speeds less than 18.6 mph (30 km/h) with compliance by September 2020, but 50% of "quiet" vehicles must have the warning sounds by September 2019. In April 2014, the European Parliament approved legislation that requires the mandatory use of an Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System [de] (AVAS). Manufacturers must install an AVAS system in four-wheeled electric and hybrid electric vehicles that are approved from July 1, 2019, and to all new quiet electric and hybrid vehicles registered from July 2021. The vehicle must make a continuous noise level of at least 56 dBA (within 2 meters) if the car is going 20 km/h (12 mph) or slower, and a maximum of 75 dBA. (Full article...)

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Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation formed from the merger in 2021 of the Italian–American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam.

As of 2023, Stellantis was the world's fourth-largest automaker by sales, behind Toyota, Volkswagen Group, and Hyundai Motor Group. In 2023, the company was ranked 61st in the Forbes Global 2000. The company's stock is listed on the Borsa Italiana, Euronext Paris and the New York Stock Exchange. (Full article...)

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Jeffrey Brian Straubel (born December 20, 1975) is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He spent 15 years at Tesla, as chief technical officer until moving to an advisory role in July 2019. In 2023, he was elected to the company's board of directors.

In 2017, Straubel founded and became the CEO of Redwood Materials, Inc., working on creating battery materials and products for lithium-ion batteries out of recycled batteries. (Full article...)

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On this day May 16

1933 — Richard M. Hollingshead Jr. is granted a patent on the drive-in movie theater

1956 — The GM Technical Center is dedicated by President Eisenhower via radio link

1996 — Ford Motor Company increases its investment in Mazda to a controlling 33.4% and nominates Henry Wallace^{[disambiguation needed]} as the first non-Japanese president of a major Japanese company

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Did you know...

...that the racing version of the Dauer 962 Le Mans, winner of 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans, is a roadcar converted from a Porsche 962 racecar, which dominated Le Mans, Group C and IMSA during the 1980s.
...that the 25 Millionth VW Golf rolled off the production line in Wolfsburg in March 2007. The first Golf started production in 1974, 33 years later the 1.4 litre TSI version became the 25 Millionth car.
...that the nearly identical Ford Model T engines were produced for exactly 12,000 days
...that the first production turbocharged cars were General Motors' A-body 1962 Chevrolet Corvair and Oldsmobile F-85?
...that Jeep introduced the 1993 Grand Cherokee and 2007 Wrangler in the same way — by driving them through a plate glass window?
...that a small number of Renault 20s, badged as Dacia 2000, were made in the 1980s by Dacia in Romania for Romanian communist dignitaries of that time?
...that the Autobianchi Primula was the Fiat's first automobile with the front-wheel drive, transverse engine setup and rack and pinion steering?
...that the Plymouth Sundance is a liftback, even though the outside appearance might suggest that it is a sedan?

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Selected quote of the day

The public don't know what they want; it's my job to tell them.

—Alec Issigonis

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General images

The following are images from various car-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 11954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 21926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 3Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 4The weight of the low battery stabilises the car. This is a dual-motor, four-wheel-drive layout but many cars only have one motor. (from Car)
Image 5Scaled model of the second Marcus car of 1875 (from History of the automobile)
Image 6A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 7Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 8Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 9Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 10Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 111974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 12In 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. (from Car)
Image 13The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 14The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 15Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 16Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 17Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 18A Stanley Steamer racecar in 1903. In 1906, a similar Stanley Rocket set the world land speed record at 205.5 km/h (127.7 mph) at Daytona Beach Road Course. (from History of the automobile)
Image 19A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 20The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 212011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 22Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 23A Tesla Model Y electric car, the world's best-selling car in the first and second quarters of 2023. (from History of the automobile)
Image 241929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 25The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 26Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 27Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 281946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 29Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 301929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 31A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 32A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 331959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 34Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 35Trucks' 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. Without the shift towards SUVs, energy use per unit distance could have fallen 30% more than it did from 2010 to 2022. (from Car)
Image 36Stuttgart, a cradle of the car 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 (from Car)
Image 37Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 38The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 391885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 40Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 41Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 42The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 43Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 441924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 45The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 46The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 47The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 48Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 49The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 501958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)