Road vehicle

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This article is about the means of transport. For other uses, see Vehicle (disambiguation).

Vehicles are non-living means of transport. They are most often man-made (e.g. bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft), although some other means of transport which are not made by man can also be called vehicles; examples include icebergs and floating tree trunks.

Vehicles may be propelled by animals, for instance, a chariot or an ox-cart. However, animals on their own, though used as a means of transport, are not called vehicles. This includes humans carrying another human, for example a child or a disabled person.

Vehicles that do not travel on land are often called craft, such as watercraft, sailcraft, aircraft, hovercraft and spacecraft

Land vehicles are broadly classified by what is used to apply steering and drive forces against the ground: wheeled, tracked, railed, and/or skied.

The word vehicle itself comes from the Latin vehiculum.

The Trikke is a Human Powered Vehicle (HPV)
The Trikke is a Human Powered Vehicle (HPV)
Automobiles are among the most commonly used engine powered vehicles.
Automobiles are among the most commonly used engine powered vehicles.
A pedal-powered quadricycle parked on a Canadian urban street amongst the cars
A pedal-powered quadricycle parked on a Canadian urban street amongst the cars

Contents

Bicycle

see Bicycles (see also Vehicular Cycling)
see main article History of the bicycle

Tricycle

see Tricycle

Quadricycle

see Quadricycle

Velomobile

see Velomobile

Electric road carriages

see electric vehicle
see history of the electric vehicle

Steam road carriage

see steam car

Steam tricycle

See steam tricycle

At the other end of the scale much lighter steam vehicles have been constructed such as the steam tricycle from the Comte de Dion in 1887.

Petroleum (gasoline / diesel) motor-carriages

See motor-carriage
See Ford's model T
See Automobile

Road trains

A road train consists of a conventional heavy truck pulling three trailers or more, used in rural areas of Australia to move bulky loads such as livestock efficiently.

The motorcycle

See Motorcycle
See Gottlieb Daimler

Mechanical rail-vehicles

see Trains
see Trams

Mechanical water vehicles

see Boats
see Ships

Mechanical under-water vehicles

see submarines
see submersibles
see diving bells
see diving chambers

Mechanical land and water vehicles

see Amphibious vehicle
see Amphibious ATV
see Hovercraft

Mechanical air vehicles

see aircraft
see Wing-In-Ground effect vehicle

Mechanical snow vehicles

see snowmobile

Types of vehicles

Legislation

European Union

In the European Union the classifications for vehicle types are defined by [1]:

  • Commission Directive 2001/116/EC of 20 December 2001, adapting to technical progress Council Directive 70/156/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers[2]
  • Directive 2002/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 March 2002 relating to the type-approval of two or three-wheeled motor vehicles and repealing Council Directive 92/61/EEC

European Community, is based on the Community's WVTA (whole vehicle type-approval) system. Under this system, manufacturers can obtain certification for a vehicle type in one Member State if it meets the EC technical requirements and then market it EU-wide with no need for further tests. Total technical harmonization has already been achieved in three vehicle categories (passenger cars, motorcycles and tractors) and will soon be extended to other vehicle categories (coaches and utility vehicles). It is essential that European car manufacturers be ensured access to as large a market as possible.

While the Community type-approval system allows manufacturers to benefit fully from the opportunities offered by the internal market, worldwide technical harmonization in the context of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) offers them a market which extends beyond European borders.

USA

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Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.


Acronyms and abbreviations

Main article: Vehicle acronyms and abbreviations

See also

Automobile Portal
Main: List of basic vehicle topics

References

  1. ^ Scadplus: Technical Harmonisation For Motor Vehicles
  2. ^ Council Directive 70/156/EEC, about Type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers, Commission Directive 2001/116/EC of 20 December 2001, adapting to technical progress Council Directive 70/156/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers

External links

Human-powered vehicles
Land
Water
canoe · kayak · pedalo · rowing
Snow and ice
Air
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle"

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