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For the unaware, an ICE car is an “internal combustion engine” car — one that’s fueled with gas.

(Cross-boundary terminology issues with gas/electric combination engines are solved by calling those “hybrids”, as a shorthand for “dual-engine ICE & EV hybrid” which no one ever says but is technically correct.)

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As a non-native English speaker, I've always wondered why the term 'internal' is included in ICE. Is it because the combustion takes place in a chambers somewhere inside the engine?

Yes, combustion is internal. Compare this to an external combustion engine, like a steam engine, which uses an external heat source to boil water.

TIL, makes sense. Didn’t think of it as “combusts inside the engine” versus “combusts next to the engine”.

> Is it because the combustion takes place in a chambers somewhere inside the engine

Yes, it is. Compare with "External Combustion Engine" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_combustion_engine

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