Engine, drivetrain, passenger compartment, electrical, are the main components. The engines can be gas/diesel, natural gas or hydrogen, or electrical. Most are gas, using an internal 4 stroke combustion engine. Many different sizes of engines and numbers of cylindes to produce power. A typical V8 motor with a naturally aspirated carburater on it will generate on average 150 horsepower. Many factors and variables can change the horsepower rating, engine displacement being the main one. Power is derived from mixing air and fuel together in a combusion chamber and then igniting it with a spark to force a piston to travel and turn a crank. When the crank turns it in turn transfers power to some sort of transmission, either a manual or automatic transmission. The trasmsission is full of different gear ratios that are designed to handle the engines horsepower and increase speed more effeciantly. The trasmission trasfers power to the rear or front wheels via a driveline that connects to a differential that trasfers the power through the axles to the wheels.
The passenger compartment is where the passengers sit and can be accomodated with any number of luxuries. This is where the vehicle is operated from also.
the electrical system supplies 12 volts to the vehicle by storing it in a battery and charging said battery with an Altenator. The 12 volts are used for lights, accessories, heat and cold, and numerous other duties, like suppling above mentioned spart to the air fuel mixture to create an explosion. In a real little nut shell that is the major components, there is alot more to the engine, like the distributor/timig, cooling system, oil and lubrication, power steering and such. The suspension is also another system consisting of the brakes, leaf springs, shocks, torsions bars or whatever to make the care ride smooth. It would take hours and many many paragraphs to fully explain all the components of a car and their specific duties and functions.
