Previously I carried a cheap pump in my car, just one cylinder and no air pressure sensing. It got very hot and started smoking when I used it to pump air in to a nearly flat car tire. So, I bought this one. It is far superior to what I used, can be plugged into a cigarette lighter socket or attached to a battery, has two cylinders and automatically shuts off when it hits a pre-set pressure level, meaning you can use it for bicycle tires. It eliminates the need to continually check the tire with a pressure guage. I keep it in my main vehicle and use it to keep proper pressure in all my vechicles, saves a trip to a gas station.