User:OnBeyondZebrax/sandbox/Car

Karl Benz generally is acknowledged as the inventor of the modern automobile in 1885. A year later, he designed and patented the first internal-combustion flat engine. The first design for an American automobile with a gasoline internal combustion engine was made in 1877. The large-scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was debuted by Ransom Olds in 1902 at his Oldsmobile factory located in Lansing, Michigan. This concept was greatly expanded by Henry Ford, beginning in 1914. Cars are equipped with controls used for driving, parking, and passenger comfort and safety. New controls have also been added to vehicles, making them more complex. Examples include air conditioning, navigation systems, and in car entertainment. Most automobiles in use today are propelled by an internal combustion engine, fueled by deflagration of gasoline (also known as petrol) or diesel. Both fuels are known to cause air pollution and are also blamed for contributing to climate change and global warming. Vehicles using alternative fuels such as ethanol flexible-fuel vehicles and natural gas vehicles are also gaining popularity in some countries.

Road traffic injuries represent the leading cause in worldwide injury-related deaths. The costs of automobile usage, which may include the cost of: acquiring the vehicle, repairs and auto maintenance, fuel, depreciation, driving time, parking fees, taxes, and insurance, are weighed against the cost of the alternatives, and the value of the benefits – perceived and real – of vehicle usage. The benefits may include on-demand transportation, mobility, independence and convenience. The costs to society of encompassing automobile use, which may include those of: maintaining roads, land use, pollution, public health, health care, and of disposing of the vehicle at the end of its life, can be balanced against the value of the benefits to society that automobile use generates. The societal benefits may include: economy benefits, such as job and wealth creation, of automobile production and maintenance, transportation provision, society wellbeing derived from leisure and travel opportunities, and revenue generation from the tax opportunities. The ability for humans to move flexibly from place to place has far reaching implications for the nature of societies.