Power Transfer
Several processes have to happen in order for a vehicle to move.
| Power Transfer Steps | |
| 1 | Fuel is stored as chemical energy in the gas tank. |
| 2 | Fuel is transported to the engine by a fuel pump. |
| 3 | Air-fuel mixture enters the engine. |
| 4 | Electrical energy is used to create a spark at the spark plug. |
| 5 | Combustion occurs, converting the chemical energy to kinetic energy. The piston moves linearly, reciprocating up and down or back and forth. |
| 6 | The reciprocating motion of the pistons is converted to rotary (circular) motion of the crankshaft. |
| 7 | The crankshaft’s rotary motion turns the transmission. |
| 8 | On front-wheel drive (FWD) vehicles, rotary motion is transferred through a transaxle (transmission and differential combined). From the transaxle, rotary power is moved through constant velocity (CV) shafts.
On rear-wheel drive (RWD) vehicles, rotary motion is transferred from the transmission through the drive shaft then to a differential and final drive assembly. In this situation, the differential changes the power flow 90° and allows the drive wheels to turn at different speeds when cornering. Power is transferred from the differential to axle shafts. |
| 9 | The axle shafts or CV shafts turn the wheels. |
| 10 | The rotary motion of the wheels converts to linear motion on the roadway. |