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Several different methods of automobile ancillary power exist. The ultimate source of power for most of them is the automobile's main power source—normally an internal combustion engine of some kind—but some way of transferring power to the vehicle's ancillary systems is required. more...

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This may be through direct mechanical connection, electricity, hydraulic systems, vacuum, or compressed air.

The trend in modern vehicles is toward making all ancilliaries run on electrical power, simplifying the vehicle's systems and making them easier to control automatically.

Mechanical

Some automobile accessories are connected directly to the engine through gears or belts. These may include ancillary systems that directly service the engine; the water pump, fuel pump, oil pump, cooling fan, etc. Another class of mechanically connected ancilliaries are those that require large amounts of power; for example, an air conditioning compressor.

Also mechanically connected to the engine are components to convert this mechanical power into other forms; for example, an alternator to charge the battery, or a hydraulic pump to drive the power steering.

Electrical

Automobiles have had electrically driven systems from the beginning, since the spark-ignition engine used in most vehicles requires electricity to generate the spark. Initially this was generated by a magneto and was only of use for ignition, but it was not long before an engine-driven DC generator was fitted. Because of the varying electrical power available from such a generator as engine speed changed, the generator was not connected directly to a car's electrical systems but rather through a lead-acid battery which enabled a more constant, smoothed flow of power and a limited supply of that power even with the engine off. This availability encouraged the use of other electrical accessories, such as lighting (which had previously been through oil lamps or acetylene lamps) and the automobile self starter. In the 1950's, six-volt systems gave way to the more robust and powerful twelve-volt standard as power accessories began to proliferate.

A further advance occurred when the DC generator was replaced by the combination of an alternator and a voltage regulator, first introduced on the 1960 Plymouth Valiant. This gave a more reliable power source capable of handling greater loads, and was the final impetus to electrify more and more vehicle subsystems which had hitherto been driven by other sources of power.

Today, most systems in the average vehicle such as power windows, power seats, and power door locks are electrically powered. The exceptions tend to be the A/C compressor and the power steering, although electrically driven power steering systems have been developed and are being used in a few models such as the Chevrolet Cobalt. Higher voltage wiring, even up to forty-two volts, has been discussed by the industry but never adopted for ordinary cars, reportedly because such high-energy systems could potentially cause harmful or fatal electric shock.

Read more at Wikipedia.org