How Would You Learn Automotive Engineering From Scratch?

Hi everyone,

I'm an Electrical Engineering student at slo, and this summer I've been working an internship that's exposed me to a lot of mechanical engineering. I've found myself becoming a lot more interested in your field.

What's funny is that, unlike most engineering students I know, I've never even been remotely interested in cars or anything automotive. Yet now I want to fill in that gap, and I think the best way to do it would be to design an entire car from scratch in CATIA.

I have experience with AutoCAD and SolidWorks from an engineering graphics course, but I have no clue where to start with something like this.

One thing I'm unsure about is whether I should design it as an electric car, a gas car, or a hybrid. My instinct is to make it electric, but I don't know which option would actually teach me the most.

For those of you who have worked in the automotive industry or have done similar vehicle design projects, how would you approach this? Should I start by reverse engineering an existing car? Is there a certain order I should design everything in? Also, are there any books, YouTube channels, courses, or other resources you'd recommend? I'll be basically going into this blind.

I'd really appreciate any advice. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks in advance for your help!