Short answers, pulled from the story.
A vehicle is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term most often refers to ground transport such as bicycles, cars, and trains, but it also covers watercraft, aircraft, and space vehicles.
The oldest boats found by archaeological excavation are logboats, and the oldest logboat is the Pesse canoe, found in a bog in the Netherlands. It carbon dates to 8040 to 7510 BC, making it 9,500 to 10,000 years old.
Karl Benz built and patented the Benz Patent-Motorwagen in 1885, the first automobile. It was powered by his own four-stroke gasoline engine.
In 2010, the number of motor vehicles in operation worldwide surpassed 1 billion, roughly one for every seven people. There are also over 1 billion bicycles in use worldwide.
At least 500 million Chinese Flying Pigeon bicycles have been made, more than any other single model of vehicle. The most-produced motor vehicle is the Honda Super Cub motorcycle, with 60 million units sold by 2008, and the most-produced car is the Toyota Corolla, with at least 35 million made by 2010.
Vehicles draw energy from external sources or stored media, including fuel, batteries, human power, wind, solar, gravity, and nuclear power. Fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and ethanol drive combustion engines, while nuclear power is mostly limited to large military ships and submarines.
With no power applied, most vehicles stop due to friction, but almost all are equipped with a braking system. Wheeled vehicles typically use friction brakes pressing pads against rotors, high-speed trains sometimes use Eddy-current brakes, and very fast vehicles can deploy parachutes.