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Barring a major accident, powertrain failure tends to be what actually takes a car off the road. You may not want a beat up 20 year old car, but if it runs well

Barring a major accident, powertrain failure tends to be what actually takes a car off the road. You may not want a beat up 20 year old car, but if it runs well, someone will drive it. Yet once the engine or transmission fails it is done. As for electric car reliability, this is a "theory vs practice" question. In theory electric cars should be vastly more reliable due to their simplicity. Electric motors have 1/10th the complexity of an ICE, and electric drivetrains tend to be simpler. In practice we have a lot of experience in building well executed ICE cars. Regardless of the complexity I would bet that a Toyota beats a Tesla for any test of longevity.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
Not to mention that nobody makes an EV that isn't chock full of bespoke electronics. Eventually the sheer number of components and MTBF will just start biting you in the ass all the time.
- elif 8y ago
  My leaf has manual seats, manual headlights, no cruise control... my 10-year-older volvo has all of those, plus various transmission modes, oil control systems, exhaust management systems, engine timing controller, a whole vacuum pump control system... which bespoke electronics do you mean which are unique to EV? and do you really think their failure rate compensates for all those ancillary systems made redundant?
  - Paperweight 8y ago
    You know, Teslas. Marketed to rich tech geeks resulting in a computer that also happens to be a car.
Merad 8y ago
> Yet once the engine or transmission fails it is done. One of my cousins owns a transmission repair shop, and from what he says at holiday gatherings he always has more customers waiting in line than he can ever hope to get to. Seems like some people out there are rebuilding their transmissions.
dragonwriter 8y ago
> Yet once the engine or transmission fails it is done. This is often an irrational short-term optimization; while it's often much cheaper to get a used beater with a functioning (for now) powertrain instead of replacing engine or transmission, replacement will often last far longer and with lower operating costs and downtime.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

Not to mention that nobody makes an EV that isn't chock full of bespoke electronics. Eventually the sheer number of components and MTBF will just start biting you in the ass all the time.

elif 8y ago
My leaf has manual seats, manual headlights, no cruise control... my 10-year-older volvo has all of those, plus various transmission modes, oil control systems, exhaust management systems, engine timing controller, a whole vacuum pump control system... which bespoke electronics do you mean which are unique to EV? and do you really think their failure rate compensates for all those ancillary systems made redundant?
- Paperweight 8y ago
  You know, Teslas. Marketed to rich tech geeks resulting in a computer that also happens to be a car.

Merad 8y ago

> Yet once the engine or transmission fails it is done. One of my cousins owns a transmission repair shop, and from what he says at holiday gatherings he always has more customers waiting in line than he can ever hope to get to. Seems like some people out there are rebuilding their transmissions.

dragonwriter 8y ago

> Yet once the engine or transmission fails it is done. This is often an irrational short-term optimization; while it's often much cheaper to get a used beater with a functioning (for now) powertrain instead of replacing engine or transmission, replacement will often last far longer and with lower operating costs and downtime.