Powertrain

Common card · No. 254736

In a motor vehicle, the powertrain comprises the main components that generate power and deliver that power to the road surface, rails, water, or air. This includes the engine, transmission, drive shafts, differentials, and the final drive (drive wheels, continuous track as in military tank or caterpillar tractors, propeller, etc.). Hybrid powertrains also include one or more electric traction motors that operate to drive the vehicle wheels. All-electric vehicles ("electric cars") eliminate the engine altogether, relying solely on electric motors for propulsion. Occasionally the term powerplant is casually used to refer to the engine or, less often, the entire powertrain. A vehicle's driveline or drivetrain consists of the parts of the powertrain excluding the engine. It is the portion of a vehicle, after the prime mover, that changes depending on whether a road vehicle is front-wheel, rear-wheel, four-wheel drive, six-wheel or eight-wheel drive, or a locomotive or railcar is configured...

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