Answer:
The engine must provide power to compensate friction
Explanation:
Accelerated Motion
Newton's first law states that a body will keep its speed or state of rest while no external net force is applied. Our automobile is running through a road which surface exerts a frictional force on the wheels. If we didn't use fuel, the automobile will eventually stop, because the unbalanced friction force causes deceleration. To compensate that force, we must provide power to the engine. When our speedometer shows a constant speed, the net force is zero, but the car needs to accelerate some, just to compensate the friction force.
The total acceleration keeps being zero, but the engine is actually doing work against friction.
