Automobile

An automobile is a wheeled vehicle that carries its own motor. Different types of automobiles include cars, buses, trucks, and vans, with cars being the most popular by far. Earlier terms for automobile include "horseless carriage" and "motor car." An automobile has seats for the driver and, almost without exception, one or more passengers.

Alternative fuels and batteries

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

Related Topics:
Tax - Europe - Law - California - Greenhouse gas

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Diesel-powered cars can run with little or no modification on 100% pure biodiesel, a fuel that can be made from vegetable oils. Many cars that currently use gasoline can run on ethanol, a fuel made from plant sugars. Most cars that are designed to run on gasoline are capable of running with 15% ethanol mixed in, and with a small amout of redesign, gasoline-powered vehicles can run on ethanol concentrations as high as 85%. All petrol fueled cars can run on LPG. There has been some concern that the ethanol-gasoline mixtures prematurely wear down seals and gaskets. Further, the use of higher levels of alcohol require that the automobile carry/use twice as much. Therefore, if your vehicle is capable of 300 miles on a 15-gallon tank, the efficiency is reduced to approximately 150 miles. Of course, certain measures are available to increase this efficiency, such as different camshaft configurations, altering the timing/spark output of the ignition, or simply, using a larger fuel tank.

Related Topics:
Diesel - Biodiesel - Vegetable oil - LPG

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In the United States, cars in the 1890s used ethanol, an alcohol fuel; petrol (called gasoline in the U.S. and Canada) and diesel engines were implemented later. Many U.S. farmers continued to make their own alcohol fuel in corn-alcohol stills until Prohibition criminalized the production of alcohol in 1919. Brazil is the only country which produces ethanol-running cars, since the late 1970s.

Related Topics:
United States - 1890s - Ethanol - Alcohol fuel - Canada - Diesel engines - Still - Prohibition - 1919 - Brazil - 1970s

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Attempts at building viable battery-powered electric vehicles continued throughout the 1990s (notably General Motors with the EV1), but cost, speed and inadequate driving range made them uneconomical. Battery powered cars have used lead-acid batteries which are greatly damaged in their recharge capacity if discharged beyond 75% on a regular basis and NiMH batteries.

Related Topics:
Battery - 1990s - General Motors - EV1 - Lead-acid batteries - NiMH batteries

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Current research and development is centered on "hybrid" vehicles that use both electric power and internal combustion. Other alternatives being explored involve methane and hydrogen-burning vehicles using fuel cells, alternative forms of combustion such as GDI and HCCI and even the stored energy of compressed air (see Air Engine).

Related Topics:
Hybrid - Hydrogen-burning vehicles - Fuel cells - GDI - HCCI - Air Engine

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The first hybrid vehicle available for sale in the USA was the Japanese corporation Honda's Insight. The car is still in production and achieves around 60 mpg.

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