Many cars have electric motors in them these days, as part of a full hybrid or start stop system.
With ICE, we can talk about inline, V, W, or boxer engines.
How do we compare and talk about electric motor designs? What are the “cylinders”, “cams”, “pistons”, “timing belt” of electric motors?
What are the points of failure for electric motors that we can fix? ICE has gasket leaks. What would a common problem be on electric motors?
Well electric motors do not have pistons, cams, valves, timing belts, etc. It's not an internal combustion engine. It uses electricity (specifically the current) and magnetic fields to induce a magnetic force, and therefore torque, on the shaft. The more current, the greater the magnetic force, and therefore, faster motor speed. Here's a diagram of a simple motor design. Internal combustion engines convert chemical energy (combustion of fuel and air) into mechanical energy, whereas an electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. The best part about electric motors is that they are "stackable". Think of it as an oversized alternator, but in reverse (you feed it electricity to spin the pulley).
And on hybrid vehicles, the torque converter is replaced with an electric motor.
When you say stackable, you mean you can use like 2 or 3 of the same motor in a row?
For example, consider the Prius. If we removed the ICE, and just stacked 2 or 3 of the electric motors, it would still run?
@Kaizen
Yup, and I believe Ford's Mustang Mach E uses seven motors! Three stacked motors for the front axle, and four stacked motors for the rear axle. I don't know if the ICE in the Prius has a purpose to the hybrid system (where the ICE runs like a generator for the battery packs), but you can technically drive the Prius without any gas for a short distance because of that electric motor connected to the transmission. Here is an example of a "stacked" motor: https://emrax.com/e-motors/stacked-motor/#:~:text=Two%20same%20sized%20EMRAX%20motors,therefore%20power%20%2F%20torque%20is%20doubled.
And here's the link to the Mach E info: https://www.autoweek.com/news/technology/a33407149/heres-what-makes-the-ford-mustang-mach-e-1400-so-special/