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There certainly is a difference to older cars. That is what I wanted to say, it is not specific to EV cars, Tesla was just an example for a car which is control

There certainly is a difference to older cars. That is what I wanted to say, it is not specific to EV cars, Tesla was just an example for a car which is controlled through central electronics. Fuses are easy to replace as they are meant to be replaced. EV probably need fewer because its batteries offer smoother voltages than your alternator. Lights don't need to be replaced as often but it got more complicated. And deeper operations like replacing a track rod is almost impossible or very work intensive in newer cars. And these are maintenance parts too if you assume a longer life span of a car. What I would criticise is that there is often not a real technical reason why things got harder to replace or that there is an absence of a general purpose diagnostic unit.

ambassador66 4y ago
Conventional fuses are probably replaced by electronic, auto-resettable fuses like polyswitches (some kind of temperature coefficient thermistor). Alternator or not, fuses are needed to limit the amount of energy a circuit can draw in the event that it malfunctions or is short-circuited. Replacing a track rod ends is not a deep operation, is a routine one and very easy to perform even if you can not elevate the car as most shops do. It does requires an alignment afterwards. However, inconvenient access to diagnostic software and rare parts/components that can only be sourced from the official dealer are a big problem, and one that the market cannot solve because there's little incentive for value chain to do so. I would like to see legislation that forces manufacturers to publish free-to-everyone specifications, firmware and diagnostic software whenever the component is commercialized for some amount of time, like 5 years or whatever makes sense. That would made old cars much more maintainable and prolong the life for several years and/or several 100 thousands kms.
- raxxorraxor 4y ago
  > because there's little incentive for value chain to do so. The suppliers of car makers probably would gladly sell the components but they have to be careful as their largest customer might want to grab a premium here as well. Sometimes they still sell the exact same parts under another brand name though. I believe Tesla has far fewer suppliers as other car makers so they probably also have a larger influence on the few that they have. Aren't polyswitches too sluggish for a car of electronics? Perhaps sensible for starting the motor though.

ambassador66 4y ago

Conventional fuses are probably replaced by electronic, auto-resettable fuses like polyswitches (some kind of temperature coefficient thermistor). Alternator or not, fuses are needed to limit the amount of energy a circuit can draw in the event that it malfunctions or is short-circuited. Replacing a track rod ends is not a deep operation, is a routine one and very easy to perform even if you can not elevate the car as most shops do. It does requires an alignment afterwards. However, inconvenient access to diagnostic software and rare parts/components that can only be sourced from the official dealer are a big problem, and one that the market cannot solve because there's little incentive for value chain to do so. I would like to see legislation that forces manufacturers to publish free-to-everyone specifications, firmware and diagnostic software whenever the component is commercialized for some amount of time, like 5 years or whatever makes sense. That would made old cars much more maintainable and prolong the life for several years and/or several 100 thousands kms.

raxxorraxor 4y ago
> because there's little incentive for value chain to do so. The suppliers of car makers probably would gladly sell the components but they have to be careful as their largest customer might want to grab a premium here as well. Sometimes they still sell the exact same parts under another brand name though. I believe Tesla has far fewer suppliers as other car makers so they probably also have a larger influence on the few that they have. Aren't polyswitches too sluggish for a car of electronics? Perhaps sensible for starting the motor though.