Ariel smoking exhaust engine - wikipedia
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one form of energy into mechanical energy.12 Heat engines, including internal combustion engines and external combustion engines (such as steam engines), burn a fuel to create heat, which then creates a force. Electric motors convert electrical energy into mechanical motion; pneumatic motors use compressed air and others?such as clockwork motors in wind-up toys?use elastic energy. In biological systems, molecular motors, like myosins in muscles, use chemical energy to create forces and eventually motion.
Źródło: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine
With early induction
Some systems disable alternator field (rotor) power during wide open throttle conditions. Disabling the field reduces alternator pulley mechanical loading to nearly zero, maximizing crankshaft power. In this case the battery supplies all primary electrical power.
Gasoline engines take in a mixture of air and gasoline and compress it by the movement of the piston from bottom dead center to top dead center when the fuel is at maximum compression. The reduction in the size of the swept area of the cylinder and taking into account the volume of the combustion chamber is described by a ratio. Early engines had compression ratios of 6 to 1. As compression ratios were increased the efficiency of the engine increased as well.
With early induction and ignition systems the compression ratios had to be kept low. With advances in fuel technology and combustion management high performance engines can run reliably at 12:1 ratio. With low octane fuel a problem would occur as the compression ratio increased as the fuel was igniting due to the rise in temperature that resulted. Charles Kettering developed a lead additive which allowed higher compression ratios.
The fuel mixture is ignited at difference progressions of the piston in the cylinder. At low rpm the spark is timed to occur close to the piston achieving top dead center. In order to produce more power, as rpm rises the spark is advanced sooner during piston movement. The spark occurs while the fuel is still being compressed progressively more as rpm rises.18
Źródło: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_combustion_engine
About Alternatives to car use
Established alternatives for some aspects of car use include public transit such as buses, trolleybuses, trains, subways, tramways light rail, cycling, and walking. Car-share arrangements and carpooling are also increasingly popular, in the US and Europe.75 For example, in the US, some car-sharing services have experienced double-digit growth in revenue and membership growth between 2006 and 2007. Services like car sharing offering a residents to "share" a vehicle rather than own a car in already congested neighborhoods.76 Bike-share systems have been tried in some European cities, including Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Similar programs have been experimented with in a number of US Cities.77 Additional individual modes of transport, such as personal rapid transit could serve as an alternative to cars if they prove to be socially accepted.
Źródło: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternatives_to_car_use