5 ms·

They have like 20 moving parts vs. 2000 in an ICE, and no transmission. The technical superiority of EV's is nothing like Linux vs Windows / MacOS.

lastofthemojito 5y ago
> no transmission Mostly single-speed transmissions but not exclusively: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28903274/porsche-taycan-transmission/ https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28903274/porsche-taycan-t...
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Yes there's a couple two speeds out there (I think we'll see more as EVs replace heavier vehicles) A single speed transmission can only really be called a transmission in a universe where cows are spherical.
  - vidanay 5y ago
    It transmits torque from one axis to another axis, so....yeah it's a transmission.
    - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
      In no wheeled vehicle context is a simple gearbox that cannot engage/disengage, change speed or change direction referred to as a transmission. Yes, it's a textbook correct terminology but completely irrelevant anywhere else (hence my comment about spherical cows)
      - klyrs 5y ago
        If we're going to get technical, the transmission of a vehicle is everything that exists between the motor and wheels. Americans tend to think of the gearbox when referring to a car's transmission; much like we call a computer a CPU and we also refer to a single chip inside the computer a CPU. A gearbox with two gears is still a gearbox. I'm still waiting for the ultimate EV that's got 4 in-hub direct drive motors. Until then, we're stuck with transmissions.
        3pt14159 5y ago
        > I'm still waiting for the ultimate EV that's got 4 in-hub direct drive motors. Total aside, I know, but man would that would be awesome.
        voqv 5y ago
        FYI: https://deepdrive.tech/ https://deepdrive.tech/ Albeit currently only rear wheel drive inhub.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
sk2020 5y ago
I’m still waiting to see a Cat D11 with an electric motor or a mechanic who can fix a used EV battery or what planet we’re going to get the lithium and cobalt from to make billions of EV cars. I don’t think we share a common definition for technical superiority.
- dna_polymerase 5y ago
  Lithium isn't that much of a problem, but cobalt might bring some fresh freedom to parts of Africa.
  - epistasis 5y ago
    And there's plenty of competitive, cobalt-free battery chemistries coming to the fore. And as you hint, cobalt's damage is a political problem, not a "we don't have enough of it" problem. With proper regulations, the battery industry could clean up what has been a long-accepted human rights nightmare. But nobody seems to complain about it unless they can use it as an excuse to continue fossil fuel use.
    - sk2020 5y ago
      There are 7M tons of cobalt reserves in the world. That is a “we don’t have enough of it” problem.
      - brohee 5y ago
        Known reserves, not reserves. (https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-cobalt.pdf https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-cobalt.pdf). Same known reserves were 4.5M tons in 2000. (https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/prd-wret/assets/palladium/production/mineral-pubs/cobalt/210300.pdf https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/prd-wret/assets/palladium...). Despite all the extraction that happened during those 20 years, we now have more known reserves than before, because unsurprisingly, the more you look for something, the more of it you find.
kbos87 5y ago
This is the biggest selling point of EVs for me. Driving an EV vs an ICE car is like the difference between streaming a movie vs dealing with a VHS tape.

lastofthemojito 5y ago

> no transmission Mostly single-speed transmissions but not exclusively: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28903274/porsche-taycan-transmission/ https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28903274/porsche-taycan-t...

throwaway0a5e 5y ago
Yes there's a couple two speeds out there (I think we'll see more as EVs replace heavier vehicles) A single speed transmission can only really be called a transmission in a universe where cows are spherical.
- vidanay 5y ago
  It transmits torque from one axis to another axis, so....yeah it's a transmission.
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    In no wheeled vehicle context is a simple gearbox that cannot engage/disengage, change speed or change direction referred to as a transmission. Yes, it's a textbook correct terminology but completely irrelevant anywhere else (hence my comment about spherical cows)
    - klyrs 5y ago
      If we're going to get technical, the transmission of a vehicle is everything that exists between the motor and wheels. Americans tend to think of the gearbox when referring to a car's transmission; much like we call a computer a CPU and we also refer to a single chip inside the computer a CPU. A gearbox with two gears is still a gearbox. I'm still waiting for the ultimate EV that's got 4 in-hub direct drive motors. Until then, we're stuck with transmissions.
      - 3pt14159 5y ago
        > I'm still waiting for the ultimate EV that's got 4 in-hub direct drive motors. Total aside, I know, but man would that would be awesome.
        voqv 5y ago
        FYI: https://deepdrive.tech/ https://deepdrive.tech/ Albeit currently only rear wheel drive inhub.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

sk2020 5y ago

I’m still waiting to see a Cat D11 with an electric motor or a mechanic who can fix a used EV battery or what planet we’re going to get the lithium and cobalt from to make billions of EV cars. I don’t think we share a common definition for technical superiority.

dna_polymerase 5y ago
Lithium isn't that much of a problem, but cobalt might bring some fresh freedom to parts of Africa.
- epistasis 5y ago
  And there's plenty of competitive, cobalt-free battery chemistries coming to the fore. And as you hint, cobalt's damage is a political problem, not a "we don't have enough of it" problem. With proper regulations, the battery industry could clean up what has been a long-accepted human rights nightmare. But nobody seems to complain about it unless they can use it as an excuse to continue fossil fuel use.
  - sk2020 5y ago
    There are 7M tons of cobalt reserves in the world. That is a “we don’t have enough of it” problem.
    - brohee 5y ago
      Known reserves, not reserves. (https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-cobalt.pdf https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-cobalt.pdf). Same known reserves were 4.5M tons in 2000. (https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/prd-wret/assets/palladium/production/mineral-pubs/cobalt/210300.pdf https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/prd-wret/assets/palladium...). Despite all the extraction that happened during those 20 years, we now have more known reserves than before, because unsurprisingly, the more you look for something, the more of it you find.

kbos87 5y ago

This is the biggest selling point of EVs for me. Driving an EV vs an ICE car is like the difference between streaming a movie vs dealing with a VHS tape.