Having a car can be extremely convenient. It can save you a lot of time, as you won’t need to spend an hour each day waiting for your bus or trying to coordinate rides with other people. With a vehicle, you can go wherever you want whenever you want, which allows you to explore the world around you and take advantage of many opportunities.

An automobile, also known as a motorcar or car, is a wheeled motor vehicle that is used mostly for transporting people and luggage. It is usually propelled by an internal-combustion engine using a volatile fuel. Modern automobiles are complex technical systems that consist of numerous subsystems with specific design functions. These components are built from many different materials, including high-strength plastics and advanced alloys of steel and nonferrous metals.

Today, there are over 1.4 billion passenger cars on the roads worldwide. The vast majority run on gasoline, while others use diesel fuel, wood gas, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), or a mixture of ethanol and gasoline called flex-fuel. Automobiles are a significant source of air pollution and are regulated by strict emission standards.

The automobile dramatically changed society in the twentieth century. It became the primary form of transportation for most families, and it was a major force in the development of a consumer-oriented economy. The automotive industry boosted the growth of oil, rubber, and other ancillary industries, and it created new jobs. It also revolutionized manufacturing through the invention of the assembly line and other innovations.