4 ms·
What’s funny is all of these trade offs have always applied to ICE cars as well, but for some reason no one cares. Blasting your radio shortens your range even
by matt-attack 7y ago
What’s funny is all of these trade offs have always applied to ICE cars as well, but for some reason no one cares. Blasting your radio shortens your range even in a gas vehicle. Running your wipers shortens your range even in a gas car.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- ricardobeat 7y ago"some reason" being you can just add an extra liter to the fuel tank, not the case for batteries.
- TheTruth321 7y agoWTF .... Are HN posters really this dumb? ... is what i would have said.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- jondumbau 7y agoI'm not much for electronics. Can you explain how playing the stereo affects mileage?
- wffurr 7y agoAdditional power draw on the accessory circuit places increased load on the alternator which in turn causes the engine to run a little harder than it otherwise would. Thus burning a little extra fuel.
- jondumbau 7y agoCheers, alternators are essentially magic to me. Id have presumed they were generating 'enough' power at all times the engine was running.
- whenchamenia 7y agoThey produce based on current draw, but have a maximum output, usually around 60-85a for and older car, to 120-240a at 14.4vdc for a newer car or truck. There is no permanant magnet, so the coils require power to generate power. Its quite interesting.
- fyfy18 7y agoFurther to this the 12V battery effectively acts as a big capacitor while the car is running, to smooth out the power that is available. I found this out the hard way a couple of years ago. My 12V was dead, yet I managed to jump start the car and get it running. I thought it would be ok to drive to get a new battery, as long as I kept the engine running high enough. After a couple of km the dashboard lights started to dim, so I tried reving it as high as I could, but the battery wasn't able to buffer the power and supply the ignition system, so the engine stopped. It was rush hour and I was in the middle lane, so it wasn't a particularly fun wait for the tow truck.
- NeedMoreTea 7y agoIn the old days of lower power alternators (or really old days of generators), and lower power engines, the revs would drop noticeably, and the note change, when you turned dip lights on, aircon or even occasionally - in smaller cars - the heated rear demister! Made it very obvious the engine was working harder. Now that tickover and fuel injection is computer controlled or we have EVs, and there's a far heavier electrical load in all cars all the time, you never notice any more. They all take power, and decrease fuel efficiency.
- userbinator 7y agoThe range of an ICE car is not as big of a concern as with EVs, giving that they already have a substantial range, "recharging" is quick, and fuels are very energy-dense.