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.

  • illiterate_coder@lemmy.world
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    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.