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They’re mechanically less complex, but all of the complexity in a modern automobile is in the sensors and control systems. It’s the same with modern airplanes;
by pmiller2 7y ago
They’re mechanically less complex, but all of the complexity in a modern automobile is in the sensors and control systems. It’s the same with modern airplanes; they’re not mechanically much more complex than they were 40 years ago, but they have sophisticated fly by wire systems that didn’t exist back then.
- dsfyu404ed 7y agoYes, and an EV is lacking two massive groups of those systems because it doesn't have the mechanical systems those electronics control. Edit: Why is this being down-voted? Is it factually incorrect or does it make people uncomfortable?
- bumby 7y agoTo the higher parent comment's point, the trade-off may not have been an equal one. Yes, they have two less major mechanical systems. But they likely have more electronic and software systems, which tend to have more failure modes (and be more difficult to test) than their mechanical counterparts. Back when I worked in automotive assembly, we'd did some work replacing mechanical systems with electronic controls. To a large extent, the mechanical systems, once tuned, would run indefinitely until they developed some mechanical wear. The electronic counterparts had to be re-tuned on a regular basis. The electronic ones had less moving parts, but increased complexity.
- magduf 7y agoThe 737MAX is not fly-by-wire. The problem is the automatic trim control system that was hacked on to make up for the design being fundamentally flawed (having engines too large for the obsolete airframe).