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This is the difference between electric and combustion powertrains, no? In electric, heat is the enemy and inefficient. In combustion, heat is a key component
by ethbr0 6y ago
This is the difference between electric and combustion powertrains, no?
In electric, heat is the enemy and inefficient.
In combustion, heat is a key component of the thermodynamic efficiency, unavoidable, and effectively only limited by material tolerances.
(I didn't major in physics, so someone keep me honest on the ceiling / floor efficiency equations for combustion engines?)
- XorNot 6y agoYou still have to cool a combustion engine - hence why car's have radiators. Combustion engine's are also limited by Carnot cycle engine efficiency - about 64% theoretically, no more then 50% in the real world. So you're still going to wind up having to dump progressively more heat from a fixed surface area.
- ethbr0 6y ago(Post coffee) Cars have radiators to cool the operating structure (e.g. engine block), but that cooling's ancillary to power produced, no? Carnot cycle was what I was grasping for. Original point being that in a thermal engine, increasing your temperature gradient by increasing your high-temperature side (while holding exhaust constant) leads to more potential power. Or IOW, a thermal engine that doesn't burn hot somewhere isn't going to produce much power. (Electric being a completely different ball of wax)