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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
Most land vehicles have wheels.
The word vehicle itself comes from the Latin vehiculum.
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.
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.
In the European Union the classifications for vehicle types are defined by Scadplus: Technical Harmonisation For Motor Vehicles:
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]
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 harmonisation 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 harmonisation in the context of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) offers them a market which extends beyond European borders.
| This short section requires expansion. |
| | Automobile Portal |
| Human-powered vehicles | |
|---|---|
| Land | bicycle · unicycle · tricycle · quadricycle · velomobile · kick scooter · roller skates · skateboard · trikke · wheelchair · longboard |
| Water | canoe · kayak · pedalo · rowing |
| Snow and ice | cross-country skis · ice skates · kicksled |
| Air | human-powered aircraft |
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia
