Most definitions of car say they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four tires, and mainly transport people rather than goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the modern car when German inventor Karl Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen.
Cars were rapidly adopted in the US, where they replaced animal-drawn carriages and carts, but took much longer to be accepted in Western Europe and other parts of the world.
Over the decades, additional features and controls have been added to vehicles, making them progressively more complex, but also more reliable and easier to operate.
The costs to the individual include acquiring the vehicle, interest payments , repairs and maintenance, fuel, depreciation, driving time, parking fees, taxes, and insurance. The costs to society include maintaining roads, land use, road congestion, air pollution, public health, health care, and disposing of the vehicle at the end of its life.
The personal benefits include on-demand transportation, mobility, independence, and convenience. The societal benefits include economic benefits, such as job and wealth creation from the automotive industry, transportation provision, societal well-being from leisure and travel opportunities, and revenue generation from the taxes. People’s ability to move flexibly from place to place has far-reaching implications for the nature of societies. There are around 1 billion cars in use worldwide.
