Hello learners, In this lesson  we are going to learn all about the energy behind the vehicle. How engine get energy to run the vehicle ?

Firstly we need to understand the types of automobile used in current scenario of automobile industry. There are mainly three types of automobile

1. Internal Combustion Vehicle

Internal combustion engines are most common form of heat engine. In this type of engine, combustion takes place inside the engine so it is called as internal combustion engine.

Example :- 2 Stroke Engine, 4 Stroke Engine and Rotary (Wankel) Engine

Working of 4 Stroke Engine (IC Engine)

While there are many kinds of internal combustion engines the four-stroke piston engine (Figure 2) is one of the most common. It is used in various automobiles (that specifically use gasoline as fuel) like cars, trucks, and some motorbikes. A four stroke engine delivers one power stroke for every two cycles of the piston and explanation of the process below.

1. Fuel is injected into the chamber.
2. The fuel catches fire (this happens differently in a diesel engine than a gasoline engine).
3. This fire pushes the piston which is the useful motion.
4. The waste chemicals, by volume (or mass) this is mostly water vapour and carbon dioxide. There can be pollutants as well like carbon monoxide from incomplete combustion.

Working of 2 Stroke Engine :-

As the name tells, the system only requires two piston movements in order to generate power. The main differentiating factor that allows the two stroke engine to function with only two piston movements is that the exhaust and intake of the gas occurs simultaneously. The piston itself is utilized as the valve of the system, along with the crankshaft, to direct the flow of the gases. In addition, due to its frequent contact with moving components, the fuel is mixed with oil to add lubrication, allowing smoother strokes. Overall two-stroke engine contains two processes:

1. The air-fuel mixture is added and the piston moves upwards (compression). The inlet port is opened up due to the position of the piston and the air-fuel mixture enters the holding chamber. A spark plug ignites the compressed fuel and begins the power stroke.
2. The heated gas exerts high pressure on the piston, the piston moves downward (expansion), waste heat is exhausted.

2. Hybrid Vehicle

Hybrid Vehicle is that type of vehicle which has combine benefits of Gasoline and  Electric Vehicle. In this type of vehicle has higher mileage and less emission gas.

3. Electric Vehicle

Electric Vehicles (EV) are that kind of vehicle which uses electric motor as a source of propulsion. EVs utilize an onboard electric storage (Battery) system to run the motor to drive the wheel of the vehicle. It has almost zero gas emission as used electrical energy to driven a vehicle.

Now Let’s come to our main topic. What Power the Vehicles ?

Traditionally, we have used hydrocarbon and fossil fuel to power up the engine. But Now in modern technology, We are also using the hydrogen gas and electricity (through batteries) to power or we can say to drive the vehicle.

Engine Source / Engine Types

Gasoline / Gasoline Engine

Diesel / Diesel Engine

Electricity / Electric Motor

Hydrogen / Fuel Cell

Vehicle Parts and Power Distribution :-

As we know the engine convert the chemical energy of the fuel to heat energy which developed pressure or force to move the piston in reciprocating motion then this reciprocation motion of piston convert into rotary motion of crankshaft by using the connecting rod. This power is transmitted to other parts also to derive the vehicle which we will understand below points :-

• Engine block is the strong casing for the engine’s cylinders which case the pistons and spark plugs.

• Pistons contain the working fuel, and expand from increased pressures inside their chamber. This expansion provides work to the next component.

• Crankshaft is connected directly to the pistons, and transforms their linear motion into rotational energy.

• Transmission consists of a series of gears, which are rotated by the crankshaft. The driver can select these gears with the selector fork in a manual transmission vehicle to determine the amount of torque to be delivered to the next component.

• Drive shaft is a rotating shaft that delivers the power from the transmission to the wheels.

• Differential is a network of gears that deliver the final power to the wheels. This part allows for the wheels to rotate at different speeds, useful for turning around corners, or providing uneven torque to individual wheels whenever needed.