3 ms·

Eventually, yes. But internal combustion engines have a head start spanning decades of fixes and reliability improvements.

blisterpeanuts 11y ago
Isn't one of the Tesla's (and other EVs') advantages that the electric drive train is mechanically simpler, not to mention smaller, than an ICE? No cylinders, starters, water pump, oxygen-fuel mix gauge, and dozens of other things that can and do go wrong. On the other hand, it sounds like Tesla's software and firmware are pretty complicated, meaning bugs in the 1.0 release, updates that may need to be rolled back if unexpected edge cases are discovered, hacks, faulty soldering, bad chips etc. And would lightning do a number on a Tesla? Maybe on any car, actually.
- joosters 11y ago
  This reminded me of a reddit comment about Australian(?) army vehicles: they deliberately use older car technology like distributers and carburetors because modern electrical systems are far too complicated to repair out in the middle of nowhere. They might be OK against lightning strikes. Then again, with any luck the charge will travel through the metal chassis and avoid ruining any components. You're definitely protected from lightning sitting inside the car. The engine? Maybe. Could be a fun experiment with high voltage :)
ZeroGravitas 11y ago
I've read that in high usage scenarios (busses, taxis) the reduced maintenance is already, along with reduced fuel costs, one of the things that makes electric vehicles financially viable, even with the higher up front costs
icebraining 11y ago
And electric engines don't? Even in cars, HEVs have been popular for twenty years (since the release of the Prius); and diesel-electric powertrains have been the standard in many vehicles since before the Model T. Around here, we've had electric vehicles climbing our hills every day for over 100 years: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=lisbon+tram https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=lisbon+tram
hvidgaard 11y ago
That does not account for the rest of the car. The drivetrain is only a part of the car. Other manufactures are miles ahead of Tesla with everything else. Now if only Mazda, Mercedes, or other high reliability manufactures would create an equivalent car, they would blow Tesla out of the water, no question.

blisterpeanuts 11y ago

Isn't one of the Tesla's (and other EVs') advantages that the electric drive train is mechanically simpler, not to mention smaller, than an ICE? No cylinders, starters, water pump, oxygen-fuel mix gauge, and dozens of other things that can and do go wrong. On the other hand, it sounds like Tesla's software and firmware are pretty complicated, meaning bugs in the 1.0 release, updates that may need to be rolled back if unexpected edge cases are discovered, hacks, faulty soldering, bad chips etc. And would lightning do a number on a Tesla? Maybe on any car, actually.

joosters 11y ago
This reminded me of a reddit comment about Australian(?) army vehicles: they deliberately use older car technology like distributers and carburetors because modern electrical systems are far too complicated to repair out in the middle of nowhere. They might be OK against lightning strikes. Then again, with any luck the charge will travel through the metal chassis and avoid ruining any components. You're definitely protected from lightning sitting inside the car. The engine? Maybe. Could be a fun experiment with high voltage :)

ZeroGravitas 11y ago

I've read that in high usage scenarios (busses, taxis) the reduced maintenance is already, along with reduced fuel costs, one of the things that makes electric vehicles financially viable, even with the higher up front costs

icebraining 11y ago

And electric engines don't? Even in cars, HEVs have been popular for twenty years (since the release of the Prius); and diesel-electric powertrains have been the standard in many vehicles since before the Model T. Around here, we've had electric vehicles climbing our hills every day for over 100 years: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=lisbon+tram https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=lisbon+tram

hvidgaard 11y ago

That does not account for the rest of the car. The drivetrain is only a part of the car. Other manufactures are miles ahead of Tesla with everything else. Now if only Mazda, Mercedes, or other high reliability manufactures would create an equivalent car, they would blow Tesla out of the water, no question.