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Wow, a whole article full of analogies to argue about. Not to mention... >Exhaust systems need to be replaced every 20,000 miles. Wha? >And all this after 80

by smackfu 14y ago

Wow, a whole article full of analogies to argue about. Not to mention... >Exhaust systems need to be replaced every 20,000 miles. Wha? >And all this after 80 years of research and development. I thought this was supposed to a new-fangled petrol car.

tvon 14y ago
It is a "review" of a modern petrol car, hence 80 years of development. They aren't going to pretend to review a Model T, for example.
- smackfu 14y ago
  Yeah, it's just highlighting the problems with contrived analogies. Either commit to the premise or write a proper article saying "yes, the electric car has downsides but it beats a internal-combustion car in these ways".
dabeeeenster 14y ago
My point, however poorly written (!), was that people are comparing 80 years and literally billions of dollars of R+D with something much, much younger. If you think about the two platforms objectively, IMHO, petrol powered cars are ridiculous.
- crusso 14y ago
  ... as though batteries and electric motors were just invented last year
madaxe 14y ago
Exhaust systems need replacing, usually far more frequently than most people do. If you've got a rusty mess of an exhaust system, you're just blowing unburned fuel through your engine. I think 80 years of R&D is overly generous. There's been no fundamental change to the ICE since its invention apart from the addition of more and more compensatory systems being introduced to mitigate the shortcomings of the traditional four-stroke piston-driven engine. The Otto cycle sucks but we stuck with it because it was the best trade-off between implementation cost and mechanical performance. 120 years ago.
- smackfu 14y ago
  20k miles is like 1-2 years of ownership. Maybe a Porsche needs that kind of crazy maintenance?
- maxerickson 14y ago
  My car spent 15 salty winters in Michigan. 1 exhaust component has rusted through so far (too bad for me, one of the convertors). Quality control and goes a long way. I don't even wash it as much as I should. Just an anecdote, but I bet the data on modern vehicles is pretty ok. Also fuel injection is a huge innovation. A thousand carburetors in a chip and all that.
- jack-r-abbit 14y ago
  > I think 80 years of R&D is overly generous. There's been no fundamental change to the ICE since its invention Fuel economy has been greatly improved. That same type of advancement in the electric world should translate directly into longer range (perhaps faster charging and/or easy battery swaps). So in 80 years... do you think we'll still be worried about getting 200 miles out of an electric car? Doubtful.

by smackfu 14y ago

tvon 14y ago

It is a "review" of a modern petrol car, hence 80 years of development. They aren't going to pretend to review a Model T, for example.

smackfu 14y ago
Yeah, it's just highlighting the problems with contrived analogies. Either commit to the premise or write a proper article saying "yes, the electric car has downsides but it beats a internal-combustion car in these ways".

dabeeeenster 14y ago

My point, however poorly written (!), was that people are comparing 80 years and literally billions of dollars of R+D with something much, much younger. If you think about the two platforms objectively, IMHO, petrol powered cars are ridiculous.

crusso 14y ago
... as though batteries and electric motors were just invented last year

madaxe 14y ago

Exhaust systems need replacing, usually far more frequently than most people do. If you've got a rusty mess of an exhaust system, you're just blowing unburned fuel through your engine. I think 80 years of R&D is overly generous. There's been no fundamental change to the ICE since its invention apart from the addition of more and more compensatory systems being introduced to mitigate the shortcomings of the traditional four-stroke piston-driven engine. The Otto cycle sucks but we stuck with it because it was the best trade-off between implementation cost and mechanical performance. 120 years ago.

smackfu 14y ago
20k miles is like 1-2 years of ownership. Maybe a Porsche needs that kind of crazy maintenance?
maxerickson 14y ago
My car spent 15 salty winters in Michigan. 1 exhaust component has rusted through so far (too bad for me, one of the convertors). Quality control and goes a long way. I don't even wash it as much as I should. Just an anecdote, but I bet the data on modern vehicles is pretty ok. Also fuel injection is a huge innovation. A thousand carburetors in a chip and all that.
jack-r-abbit 14y ago
> I think 80 years of R&D is overly generous. There's been no fundamental change to the ICE since its invention Fuel economy has been greatly improved. That same type of advancement in the electric world should translate directly into longer range (perhaps faster charging and/or easy battery swaps). So in 80 years... do you think we'll still be worried about getting 200 miles out of an electric car? Doubtful.