Is there an abstract word for the environment in which a vehicle can move?

Solution 1:

I would suggest medium

2: a means of effecting or conveying something: as a surrounding or enveloping substance

Solution 2:

Would terrain fit your needs?

ter·rain
/təˈrān/ Noun: An area of land or the particular features of it.

Another, albeit longer, option would be topography

Noun:

1. a precise description of a place a detailed graphic representation of the surface features of a place or object

2. the features themselves (the terrain)

3. the surveying of the features

EDIT: With suggestion from a comment I've added the following, from m-w.com

milieu

noun: the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops : environment

Solution 3:

This meaning of the word domain might be appropriate:

A district or region under rule, control, or influence, or contained within certain limits; realm; sphere of activity, influence, or dominion.

(Source: OED, 3b)

Solution 4:

Element.

(Webster's:

three: a natural habitat, sphere of activity, or environment... )

However, that is not to say that using this word would sound natural in every possible context.

Also, I wish the auto-correct device wouldn't keep renumbering - that's Webster's sense 3 for 'element'.

Solution 5:

Consider environs.

It's used in a similar sense to environment, but has the connotation of being more localized. One could say a vehicle moves through its environs.