vehicle

This article explains the vehicle as a means of transport.

• For religious meanings, see Schools and Systems of Buddhism .
• Vehicle type is forwarding to this article.
• For more specific information on road vehicles, see also vehicle class .

Vehicle is a generic term for mobile means of transport that are used to transport people ( passenger transport ), goods ( freight transport ) or tools (machines or aids). Colloquially, a vehicle is also often referred to as a vehicle (Middle High German gevert (e) = "drive, gear, journey"; collective formation to drive ).

Basics

The type of drive or use is irrelevant for the classification. Depending on the application, they are further subdivided, for example into:

• Land vehicles
• Watercraft
• Aircraft

In addition, all of these vehicles can be subdivided into various other categories, for example:

• Watercraft → displacer and glider
• Land vehicles → rail vehicles , road vehicles , off-road vehicles
• Aircraft → helicopters , propeller planes , jet planes

Combinations as with the amphibious vehicle are also possible. There are also spacecraft .

Vehicles are not necessarily motorized , they can also be powered by muscle power, designed for use on tractors or use external forces, e.g. B. Wind. Muscle- powered vehicles are, for example, rowing boats , pedal boats , bicycles (or related vehicles such as rickshaws ) and draisines . Muscle strength is also used when using draft animals . In land vehicles such as carts and carriages or horse-drawn trams , horses in particular are used as draft animals. In addition, there are drive sources that act on the vehicle from outside, such as wind (e.g. in a sailing ship ) or gravity (e.g. in a toboggan ). They often have different uses and are designed in many ways, with land vehicles alone there are thousands of designs and uses. Motorized vehicles are referred to as motor vehicles . When they pull other non-motorized vehicles, they are known as tractors or towing vehicles .

Vehicles are often controlled by a driver (sometimes also called a pilot , helmsman, etc.), sometimes also remotely controlled , other vehicles manage without a driver and are controlled automatically / mechanically ( autopilot ; autonomous vehicle ). Autonomous or remote-controlled vehicles are also called unmanned vehicles .

See also

• List of means of transport - gives an overview of vehicles used as means of transport
• History of traffic - the historical development of vehicles

Web links

Commons : Vehicles  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Vehicle  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ↑ according to Duden.
2. ^ German Patent and Trademark Office: International Patent Classification, Section B - Working Process; Transport: vehicles in general