An automobile, or car, is a wheeled motor vehicle used for passenger transportation. Automobiles are usually powered by an internal combustion engine using a fuel, most commonly gasoline. They also may be driven by electricity or some other form of renewable energy. As one of the most ubiquitous and widely recognizable modern technologies, the automobile has transformed world culture and human society in many ways.
The scientific and technical building blocks of the modern automobile date back several hundred years. The first steam-powered cars could move quickly but had limited range and were cumbersome to operate. The development of the internal combustion engine allowed for more reliable vehicles with greater speed and endurance, but it was only with the advent of affordable petroleum-based gasoline that the automobile became a practical form of transport.
Karl Benz invented the first petrol-powered automobile in 1885, but it took more than a century for mass production of automobiles to take hold. Henry Ford revolutionized the industry with his introduction of the assembly line, making it possible to build a car cheaply enough for the average person to afford. During the postwar era, engineering was subordinated to questionable aesthetics of nonfunctional styling, and quality steadily deteriorated. The higher unit profits Detroit made on gas-guzzling road cruisers came with the social costs of increased air pollution and a drain on dwindling world oil reserves.
Today, there are more than 1.4 billion cars in operation worldwide. Most are passenger cars, but trucks and buses are important forms of automobile transport. An estimated three trillion miles (five trillion kilometres) are traveled by automobiles each year. The automotive industry is a major consumer of steel and other industrial metals, as well as of petroleum, and provides employment to a large number of people in ancillary industries.
Owning a vehicle gives you freedom to go where you want, when you want. You don’t have to rely on others to get you from point A to point B, and you can spend time with your family instead of waiting around for the next bus or train.
The automobile has become a symbol of American culture and national identity. Its popularity in the first decades of the 20th century enabled the middle class to grow in America, and it ushered in an era of consumer goods and leisure activities. It also made the nation more mobile, allowing residents of urban areas to escape to rural settings and people living in rural areas to visit urban centers. The automobile also helped make North Carolina a major manufacturing center for both its own Ford plant and the manufacture of parts for other car manufacturers. The city of Charlotte, founded in 1914, was the site of the largest automobile factory in the South until 1932 when it shut down during the Great Depression. The city has since diversified its economy, including the growth of the financial services sector. This has resulted in a steady increase in the city’s population.