What is an elevator car?

This is a very simple term which refers to the ‘box’ which the passengers travel up and down in when using a lift; it is a term which has survived since the very conception of lifts.  The car is, perhaps aside from the actual mechanism of the lift, the most important feature, where else would the passengers be able to go if they couldn’t actually go in the elevator car? Elevator cars can vary wildly in size, from dumbwaiters which accommodate small loads to huge cars which can hold 50 or more people, and no two are ever the same. 

Elevator cars are also the brain-centre of the elevator; it’s where the control system is and where everything happens. Buttons in the elevator car control to which floors the lift will travel and also, if something were to go wrong, the elevator car is where the emergency equipment is often contained and where the emergency alarm can be pushed. Elevator cars have fascinated psychologists for many years, in particular the way people interact, or don’t interact, with each other when riding in them. We’ve all had uncomfortable experiences in them but tend to take their technical wonder for granted.

Elevator Information Guide: