Periodic Table of Car Elements

There are dozens of natural elements used to create an automobile. Most of us think of steel, lubricants, wiring, glass, paint, and leather or fabric when we think of the pieces and parts of a car or truck, but it goes much deeper than that. Auto manufacturing is a matter of science, and we’ve looked closely at that science in this Periodic Table of Vehicle Elements.

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As you can see, not ALL elements you memorized back in high school chemistry class appear in this chart, but we do cover the biggies, 29 in all. Some of the elements featured are commonly found throughout a vehicle (like aluminum and iron), while other elements are rarely used (like neon used for special lighting), and others are no longer used at all (like uranium).

We’ve categorized each of the 29 vehicle elements into 8 color-coded categories to encompass the major areas of a vehicle’s build: Assembly, Body/Chassis, Electronics/Electrical System, Emissions, Fluids, Interior, Paint, and Safety. As you can see, many elements fall into more than one category.

For those interested in science or those who geek out on car manufacturing technicalities, we hope you’ll share our graphic with friends. We’ve already shared it on Facebook to make it easy for you.