Car transportation elevators can be used to transport a car to another parking level without the need for a space consuming ramp.

Hydraulic elevators make use of electrically driven hydropumps. There are two main types of these – those with cylinders directly supporting the car and those using a scissor mechanism. The cylinder in the first type can either be underneath the cabin or there can be two cylinders, at opposite sides without a hole at the bottom of the shaft. In general these types of elevators can reach up to four or five floors, combined with a rope mechanism that can be up to ten floors.

Traction elevators are often found in scissor car elevators. They can be constructed with or without a gearbox. The latter is called a gearless traction elevator and is suitable for high speeds. The electric motor propels a drive sheaf on which the steel hoist ropes are rolled. The steel ropes are connected to the elevator car.

Of course there are some less common systems like rack and pinion elevators but they are not often found in car elevators. A car elevator can be constructed with a cabin, complete with inner and outer doors. In this way it is like a big passenger elevator for cars. It is also possible to construct the elevator with only a cabin floor. For doing this, the driver needs to stay in the car and operate the elevator using a dead man’s switch on the control panel through the window of his car. This is only viable for situations with regular users and a low volume of traffic.

If a car parking lift is only to be used very rarely, for example, at a car dealers, it is possible to have a car lift with very limited safety features to reduce costs. In these goods elevators no people are allowed on the platform during operation and it should be controlled by an operator standing by using a dead man’s switch.