What are cars made of?
Cars take 12 things directly, among them sheet steel, aluminum, paint, copper wire, printed circuit board and windshield. Trace them back and you pass 90 made things on the way to 31 raw materials.
How cars are made See it on the map
What goes straight in
- Sheet steelat Press the body panels
- Aluminumat Press the body panels
- Paintat Dip and spray the shell
- Copper wireat Install the wiring and electronics
- Printed circuit boardat Install the wiring and electronics
- Windshieldat Fit glass, seats and trim
- Airbagat Fit glass, seats and trim
- Carpetat Fit glass, seats and trim
- Polyurethaneat Fit glass, seats and trim
- Car engineat Marry body to powertrain
- Tireat Mount the wheels
- Gasolineat Fill up and road-test
From the ground: 31 raw materials
- Crude oil through gasoline
- Coal through aluminum
- Water through polyurethane
- Silica sand through car engine
- Natural rubber latex through tire
- Sulfur through tire
- Zinc ore through sheet steel, zinc
- Air through sheet steel, zinc
- Bauxite through aluminum, alumina
- Titanium ore through paint, titanium dioxide
- Iron ore through paint, pigment
- Copper ore through printed circuit board, copper
- Limestone through printed circuit board, fiberglass
- Dolomite through windshield, window glass
- Wool fleece through carpet, wool yarn
- Rock salt through polyurethane, chlorine
- Natural gas through gasoline, hydrogen
- Corn through gasoline, ethanol
- Sugarcane through gasoline, ethanol
- Manganese ore through car engine, steel, manganese
- Trona through printed circuit board, fiberglass, soda ash
- Tin ore through printed circuit board, solder, tin
- Lead ore through printed circuit board, solder, lead
- Silver ore through printed circuit board, solder, silver
- Soybeans through windshield, ink, vegetable oil
- Rapeseed through windshield, ink, vegetable oil
- Clay through windshield, ink, vegetable oil
- Quartz through airbag, silicone, metallurgical silicon
- Timber through airbag, silicone, metallurgical silicon
- Gold ore through airbag, microchip, gold
- Sugar beet through gasoline, ethanol, baker's yeast, molasses
Made along the way: 78 things
Metals 16
SteelZincAluminaCopperSolderPig ironSteel wireBrassMagnesiumSteel scrapManganeseCokeTinLeadSilverGold
Chemicals and fuels 37
Petroleum cokeTitanium dioxidePigmentInkAdhesivePropyleneNitric acidChlorineCarbon blackNaphthaHydrogenEthanolOxygen gasQuicklimeArgonSulfuric acidCaustic sodaAmmoniaMethanolSoda ashPhenolAcetoneNitrogen gasPlasticizerParaffin waxBenzeneHydrochloric acidEthyleneStyrenePropaneCarbon dioxideFormaldehydeHexaneTolueneCharcoalPara-xyleneEthylene glycol
Plastics and fibers 13
AcrylicFiberglassEpoxyPolyvinyl butyralNylonSiliconePolypropyleneSynthetic rubberPolyesterPhenolic resinPolyvinyl alcoholPolyethylenePET plastic