The most commonly used power plant in automobiles is an internal combustion engine (ICE). An internal combustion engine (ICE) is a type of heat engine that converts the chemical energy stored in fuel into mechanical energy. It works by burning fuel inside a combustion chamber to create a high-pressure and high-temperature gas that expands and pushes a piston, which in turn drives a crankshaft.

Otto cycle is also known as constant volume cycle, as the heat is received and rejected at a constant volume. Otto cycle is used in gas, petrol and many of the oil engines. The petrol engine works on Otto cycle. 

The ideal Otto cycle consists of two constant volume and two reversible adiabatic or isentropic processes. 

Otto cycle is taken as a standard of comparison for internal combustion engines. For the purpose of comparison with other cycles, the air is assumed to be the working substance.

A square engine is an engine with bore diameter equal to stroke length. D=L. An under-squared engine has stroke length greater than bore diameter (L >D). This means the engine generates more torque at low speeds. These can be found in heavy vehicles such as Harley Davidson.

In-line engine The cylinders are arranged in a single row, one behind the other. They may be vertical, as in most modern light vehicles, horizontal are used in coaches where the engine is positioned under the floor, or inclined at an angle to allow for a lower bonnet line.

Vee engine The cylinders are arranged in two rows at an angle to one another. The angle for two-, four- and eight-cylinder engines is usually 90 . For six- and twelve-cylinder engines the angle is usually 60.

Opposed piston or cylinder engine This is where the cylinders are at an angle of 180 apart and usually positioned horizontally