this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2023

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Why does a car have both a motor and engine? (self.nostupidquestions)

submitted 1 year ago by SmokingMenthols to c/nostupidquestions

14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I don't understand why a car would have both if they both provide rotational energy, unless they just stack? I don't know what's going on.

all 17 comments

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[–] Dettweiler42 34 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

"Engine" is used to describe an assembly of parts that contain a motor and the systems to make the motor more efficient and self-sustaining.

"Motor" is used to describe a device that converts energy into motion

Bringing up details from my comment below, the motor component of a traditional car engine is the piston/crank/cylinder assembly; as this is the part that converts fuel into motion. The rest of the engine is a necessary part to keeping the motor running.

However, when it comes to cars, people tend to use the terms interchangeably. If you have a hybrid car, your engine will have two types of motors (combustion motor and electric motor).

[–] SmokingMenthols 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Thank you for breaking down the definition. I’d heard that about motors as “energy converters” but not specifically the definition difference of engines needing a “self sustaining fuel source”. All engines are technically heat powered motors, but only heat powered motors are engines then, right?

[–] Dettweiler42 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Not all engines are heat powered motors, and vis versa. I should have clarified earlier as well, but motors convert energy into motion. Engines have a motor, but contain other systems and accessories to aid the motor, and have the potential to create other forms of energy from that conversion process.

Think of an engine as a self-contained package, also known as an assembly. Multiple systems come together to form the engine. You give it fuel, and it converts that fuel into heat, rotational motion, electricity, and cooling. It also lubricates and cools itself. The piston/crank system is the motor component of the engine. The intake, exhaust, and cooling systems are part of the engine, and they allow the motor to keep working efficiently. The alternator and AC compressor are engine accessories.

It gets much easier to understand if you picture other types of engines. In a jet engine, the turbine section is the motor core of the engine. On a steam engine, the motor is the steam piston component that drives the wheels.

I edited my original comment to help clear up the half-asleep explanation I gave before.

[–] Jane2187 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"Engine" and "motor" are almost the same thing, and when talking about cars are often used interchangeably. However, an engine usually refers to an internal combustion engine (which is gasoline or diesel-powered), while a motor usually refers to an electric motor, as used in electric cars.

[–] SmokingMenthols 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My education is in automation and my current job works very heavily with pneumatic systems, so my usable idea of what a motor and engine is are very different from most people familiar with the terms. I would get some seriously strange looks for saying that a compressor engine was bad comparatively.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Typically, people do associate the terms with different forms of power, but they're really the same thing. A motor creates motion using supplied power. That's what a car engine does: it uses the chemical energy in fuel to move pistons.

If I understand correctly about your line of work, this is consistent: the supplied power source is converted to rotational motion in the fans. Your compressor engine is also a motor.

If you have something else that turns the airflow into electricity, then you have a generator there, and will need another motor to make stuff move again.

This is also why hybrids need an electric motor and a gas engine: they have a generator that turns motion into electricity, so they need something that turns electricity back into motion.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Most cars only have an internal combustion engine. People just refer to it interchangably as an engine and a motor.

There's a small number of cars that have both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, called hybrids. They try to take advantage of the best of both worlds, giving the range of the ICE and the fuel economy of the electric motor.

Some cars don't have an engine and only have an electric motor inside.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Most people use the terms interchangeably and probably nobody would ever call you on it. In strict definition they are not the same thing. Hybrids have a motor and an engine, so do F1 racing cars.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I think you have some confusion with terms. Generally, where I am from motor is another term for an engine(usually an older term not used as much anymore, or as slang), unless you're more specifically talking about an electric motor.

Internal combustion engines (conventional cars) have an engine that uses gas or diesel to cause controlled explosions that turn chemical energy into rotational mechanical energy. They only have one engine or "motor" which transmits power to the transmission, then eventually to the wheels.

Electric cars have battery packs that power 1-4 electric motors which in turn move the wheels (depends on the variety of electric car).

You can also have hybrids which is perhaps what you are asking about? Where it's a combination of a convential gas or diesel engine that can either power the car directly, or can charge the larger battery packs that can power electric motors. This is more akin to an generator, that burns fuel to produce power, being connected to an electric motor(s) to move the tires. The car can run on battery power, engine power, or a mixture depending on the situation.

These are generalizations, if you provide more specifics about your question I would be happy to clarify anything.

[–] illiterate_coder 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

All these comments are correct but also missing the fact that gas-powered engines do also have a separate starter motor, which is powered by the car battery, whose purpose is to start the gas engine's crankshaft rotating so it can start burning gasoline and sustain ignition on its own. It is only used for a few seconds, unlike a hybrid car's electric motor which is used continuously while driving.

[–] Blamemeta 1 points 1 year ago

They're referring to the same part. Technically speaking, an engine is a combustion powered motor. EVs only have a Motor, but ICEs have an engine that's also a motor.

[–] illiterate_coder 1 points 1 year ago

All these comments are correct but also missing the fact that gas-powered engines do also have a separare starter motor, which is powered by the car battery, whose purpose is to start the gas engine's crankshaft rotating so it can start burning gasoline and sustain ignition on its own. It is only used for a few seconds, unlike a hybrid car's electric motor which is used continuously while driving.