6.0 Story Speculations

[Enkidoh]

Is it, though? A nation with the ability to build literal floating fortresses in the form of their imperial dreadnaughts in a land full of magical possibilities, and you don't think they could develop something like an automobile? Something that mere mortals in the real world developed prior to the invention of flight in 1886? Get real.

Except we've never really seen anything like mechanized road transport used widely anywhere in the game made by the Empire, for ground transport they've always gone for bipedal vehicles like the magitek armour (even the Juggernaut air fighters have legs that can walk on the ground as well).

The closest we've ever seen of powered wheeled vehicular transportation made by Garlemald is that they have built and operated railways (which apparently is how we are going to be entering what's left of the Garlean capital in EW), and the flavour text for Cloud's SDS Fenrir motorcycle in an attempt to graft FFXIV lore to it (basically making it not actually Cloud's motorcycle from FFVIIAC, but rather a Garlean made vehicle that happens to resemble Cloud's bike and thus FFXIV lore correct). Cid did also help repair Noctis's Regalia car in the FFXV event (and in fact, reverse engineered it to the point he built his own cereleum-powered version, which of course the Ironworks then markets to the WoL themself), so he seemed to have some knowledge of such technology. Wedge also built a motorcycle/airship vehicle as a side project as well (the Falcon).

So maybe there is some limited powered road transport in Garlemald, but like everything about the Empire, I doubt it's quite as widespread as it's claimed to be, probably restricted to the elites of society while the majority of the Empire's citizens still have to use chocobo transportation or walk everywhere (also don't forget the Empire preferred to fly rather than travel by land, as a very visible and effective expression of their power - better to have a huge floating behemoth cruise slowly right above the heads of your enemies and vassals both to threaten them into submission than having a bunch of vulnerable road vehicles take far longer to travel anywhere and potentially run afoul of a lack of sealed permenant roads and monsters.