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Science & Tech
automobile
vehicle
Also known as: auto, car, motorcar
Category:
Science & Tech
- Byname:
- auto
- Also called:
- motorcar or car
- Related Topics:
- autonomous vehicle
- LEAF
- Honda Civic
- ZOE
- Tesla Model Y
An automobile is a usually four-wheeled vehicle designed primarily for passenger transportation and commonly propelled by an internal-combustion engine using a volatile fuel. (Read Henry Ford’s 1926 Britannica essay on mass production.) The modern automobile is a complex technical system employing subsystems with specific design functions. Some of these consist of thousands of component parts that have evolved from breakthroughs in existing technology or from new technologies such as electronic computers, high-strength plastics, and new alloys of steel and nonferrous metals. Some subsystems have come about as a result of factors such as air pollution, safety legislation, and competition between ...(100 of 15677 words)