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How a Car Engine Works
- sitharus 13y agoMirror here: http://visual.ly/how-car-engine-works-animated http://visual.ly/how-car-engine-works-animated
- polskibus 13y agoThis page is really slow on my chrome, wouldn't it be better to divide it into smaller pieces?
- dragos2 13y agoIt would've been even better if it wasn't a massive gif. I kept hovering and clicking the page the whole time wanting to control the animations.
- sitharus 13y agoIt's worth noting that the engine illustrated is a gasoline direct injection engine, which are fairly common on new cars but historically not so. Until the early 2000s most fuel injected gasoline engines were multi-point injection - the fuel was injected in to the incoming air stream immediately before the cylinder, and before that indirect injection which injected where the carburettor was. Then there are carburettor engines. Most diesel engines have been direct injection for many decades now, due to the behaviour of the fuel.
- elnate 13y agoThe other difference is Diesel engines ignite the fuel by compressing it rather than with a spark. (Also Diesel is the engine type not the fuel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine)
- Peroni 13y agoWell they both work on compression, diesels simply rely on it more than gasoline engines. Diesel engines work on what's called adiabatic compression heating. In other words, the compression causes the air to heat to a point higher than the ignition point of the fuel. Diesel engines usually use glow plugs to compensate for the lack of adiabatic compression heating when the engine is cold.
- adolph 13y agoSee also the awesome fire piston, a relatively ancient technology using the same principles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_piston https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_piston
- ams6110 13y agoyep the original diesel engine was designed to run on coal dust, unlike the modern light fuel oil diesels (kerosene, jet-A, home heating oil, and diesel fuel are all very close to the same thing, differing mainly in additives).
- 13y ago
- jacquesm 13y agoHow a gasoline car engine works, specifically a piston car engine with injection. There are lots of other variations on the theme of car engine. For instance, Diesel, Natural Gas, LPG, electricity (non-hybrid) and another configurations for the hot chamber, for instance a Wankel engine. Instead of injection there is carburation (an older, less efficient process for getting the fuel air mixture into the cylinders), and then there are turbo variations. Of course gasoline, piston car engines are extremely common but the number of diesels can be very large depending on where you are (for instance, in Europe they are very common). So for the general North-American view of what a car engine is this infographic is mostly correct but please don't take it as the be-all end-all of car engines, there is a lot more to it than that.
- mindcrime 13y agoIndeed. It also assumes an overhead cam configuration, and ignores the possibility of a pushrod / lifter based cam/valve system. And showing a distributor glosses over the electronic timing systems that newer cars use, whereby they don't need a traditional distributor at all, just a crankshaft position sensor. Still, for an engine neophyte, that was a pretty decent explanation.
- jcampbell1 13y agoEven weedwackers have electronic ignition these days. That is why they are so easy to start. You don't have to fight the the preset advance.
- arethuza 13y agoNot to mention superchargers and turbo and supercharger combinations (AKA twinchargers). VW's 1.4TSI is a great twincharged engine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twincharger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twincharger
- draven 13y agoOr Wankel engines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine
- bajsejohannes 13y agoFor an old school look at internal combustion engines, check out this episode of The Secret Life of Machines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfr3_AwuO9Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfr3_AwuO9Y The whole show is well worth the time.
- willyt 13y agoThe whole series was great. Worth watching for sure.
- nja 13y agoIf you find this sort of thing interesting, it might be fun to mess around with designing your own engine in Automation[1]. I've always been interested in cars, but playing around in this (currently in-development) simulation/game gave me a bunch of new insight into various engine parameters. [1] http://www.automationgame.com http://www.automationgame.com
- exDM69 13y agoNow here's a good website with nice animated illustrations. But it's all one giant animated GIF. It won't scale up or down and it's already running short on colors. This is something where WebGL would excel, you could get the full color palette and make it interactive. So far all WebGL demos I have seen are tech demos or simple games that look like OpenGL games did in 2004, and they have not been really used inside websites, only as a separate square.
- tagawa 13y agoOr SVG. But I don't want to take anything anyway from his effort - it's a wonderful work of art/education he's created.
- exDM69 13y agoYes, SVG would work too but it is not ideal for 3d. The ability to rotate the view and zoom in to see the details would make this infographic even better. I wish the 3d models that were used to draw this would be shared so I could try animating them in 3d. And don't get me wrong, I think that this was an excellent inforgraphic.
- stadeschuldt 13y agoAnother benefit of not using a monolithic gif is the ability to translate the page to different languages. I could see a huge interest in non-English speaking countries for this.
- AlisdairO 13y agoBeautifully presented - and for an engine neophyte like myself extremely informative. Thanks!
- enscr 13y agoHad to scroll all the way to the bottom to see a simple comment appreciating the design.
- kineticfocus 13y agoI always found this one video (http://youtu.be/K4JhruinbWc http://youtu.be/K4JhruinbWc) on differentials enlightening.
- mzs 13y agoThose old Handy organization films are incredible, here is my favorite but GM commissioned a lot of them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCtJlgtZnBY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCtJlgtZnBY The US Army also has many very nice ones intended to introduce mechanics as well, there is one about power steering that is very good, but many more as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpvyWAA8a0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpvyWAA8a0
- agumonkey 13y agoHere's another one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkQ2pXkYjRM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkQ2pXkYjRM : gears.
- robin_reala 13y ago93 octane is premium fuel in the US? Petrol in the UK starts at 95 and premium is 98. What’s the practical difference then?
- stickydink 13y agoThere are two measurements that can be made; RON (Research Octane Number, measuring fuel behavior at 600rpm) and MON (Motor Octane Number, measuring fuel behavior at 900rpm). MON is typically 8-10 points lower than the RON. In the US/Canada and some other parts of the Americas, they use the average of the two. Hence lower. In most other places, they just use the RON. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating#Measurement_methods http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating#Measurement_metho...
- freehunter 13y agoMy car asks for 91 octane fuel. I have no idea where I'm supposed to get that when all I see is 87, 89, and 93. Since it's an Italian-designed car, I was expecting that 91 is a common European designation. Perhaps not?
- maxerickson 13y agoIt's generally an 'at least', you probably don't need to worry about 93. If it is modern and fuel injected, 89 or 87 will probably also be fine, it just won't perform quite as well (but the computer will notice and back off of the timing).
- freehunter 13y agoYeah, I put in 93 once and had a small but noticeable increase in power. From my understanding, this only really happens if your knock sensor is retarding your timing with 87 octane and 93 lets it advance the timing further. It's 87 minimum, 91 recommended with my engine. Since I secretly wish my car was a small diesel, the slight lack of power with 87 doesn't bother me too much :)
- 13y ago
- vladoh 13y agoCarbibles has great explanations of most car systmes with really nice animations. Here is the engine part: http://www.carbibles.com/fuel_engine_bible.html http://www.carbibles.com/fuel_engine_bible.html
- JDSD 13y agoSome other cool configurations if anyone is interested. Di Pietro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGiviT-C_oY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGiviT-C_oY Rotary(wankel) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BCgl2uumlI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BCgl2uumlI Fibonacci Offset Rotary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tklMGxqRtw4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tklMGxqRtw4 k-jetronic fuel system: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4fJAfXYxWk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4fJAfXYxWk
- gnarbarian 13y agosuck squeeze bang blow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-stroke_engine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-stroke_engine
- Gonzih 13y agoNowadays hybrids are smarter. Combustion engine is used to charge batteries and provide power to the electric motor, it's more efficient way of using energy from gasoline. Using combustion with electric motor stands out to be much less efficient.
- Wingman4l7 13y agoAFAIK we're still not doing it right. The best way is to make the electric motor the main motor, and having the gasoline engine be small and tuned to run at a consistent peak efficiency RPM, and only used to charge the batteries. This was figured out in 1979! http://www.motherearthnews.com/green-transportation/electric-car-conversion-zmaz79jazraw.aspx http://www.motherearthnews.com/green-transportation/electric... (see the diagram in the fourth image).
- Gonzih 13y agoYes, that is exactly what I meant. There are already some cars that do it almost properly. http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/ http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-Mobile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-Mobile Btw Yo-Mobile is interesting since they are using rotary engine to do power generation.
- stonemetal 13y agoThanks for the fisker link. I saw one on the road the other day but forgot to look it up later. They are as pretty as Teslas.
- maxerickson 13y agoThat isn't true, most hybrids still have a mechanical connection between the combustion engine and the drive wheels. That is, the Prius, Ford hybrids, GM hybrids, I'm sure others.
- Gonzih 13y agoAgree, Prius and others aren't actually efficient in terms of fuel usage. And they aren't "green".
- doktorn 13y agoLoved it! Had actually no idea how a car engine worked.
- ananth99 13y agoGreat illustration. Thanks!
- smandou 13y agoWater boil at exactly 100 degrees Celsius... not the conversion of 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Americans. ;-) Nice job still.
- T-hawk 13y agoThose are exactly the same, it's not an approximation. (212 - 32) / 9 * 5 = 100 exactly. Water boils at exactly 212 Fahrenheit under 1 atm pressure.
- sitharus 13y agoIf you're going to take it that far you have to add "at standard pressure".
- lutorm 13y agoAlso, I was under the impression that coolant does not boil at that high a temperature at standard pressure. The point of the sealed coolant system is to increase the pressure and hence the boiling point, but if it boiled at that temperature by default that would be unnecessary since no engine runs that hot.
- eric_the_read 13y ago~95°C here (Denver, CO). Flatlanders. ;-)
- Aloisius 13y ago> Water boil at exactly 100 degrees Celsius Few people live exactly under 1 atm for any length of time.
- davethespider 13y agoYou guys are unreal with your comments - is it jealousy or something. Whatever it is it make me want to never come here again
- sitharus 13y agoNever underestimate the pedantry of a crowd of IT-types. I used to be like that, but I grew out of it. The main problem seems to be that it's either a simplification - which is needed because the real thing is too complex to absorb at once - or the technology choice doesn't meet their expectations. As someone who knows all about engines, I think it's neat. Too many people don't have the faintest idea about how their car works. Though I guess most don't care and it's my desire to know how everything works that makes me odd.
- kamjam 13y agoI agree. People need to realise the market that this guy was targeting - it is average Joe on the streets, not the HN nerdy types. I know a fair amount engines and how they work, I still think it's very informative. The guy is a self taught graphic designer that judging by his portfolio works mainly with Photoshop. Instead of some people complaining about "it should be tech X or tech Y", maybe reach out to the guy and try to work with him. I'd like to see one on airplane and jet engines next :)
- beachstartup 13y agothis particular instance isn't the pedantry of IT-types, it's the pedantry of car-types. every car forum / mailing list / meetup ever is full of this kind of one-upmanship.
- mdesq 13y agoSpot on. Everything posted here is viewed as an opportunity for critique. It's driving me away as well. Perfect is truly the enemy of the good. Truth be told, it was a few diagrams similar to these (though non-moving) that I saw and studied when I was probably about ten years old that fired up my interest in the mechanics of automobiles specifically. That turned into a long-term pursuit and I even spent several years working professionally as a mechanic and delving into some custom and high-performance work. It was doing engine performance management and working with ECUs that I dove into electrical signalling and decided to shift gears a little and get into the high-tech world, so I put myself through college at night. I still think of those diagrams from time to time. Someone's creation of a few diagrams like this years ago opened up this kid's mind in a lasting way. I'm sure there were plenty of criticisms to be made on them, but they still had an important and lasting impact.
- nicholassmith 13y agoThis is pretty cool. When I was younger I built a mini engine (from a kit[1], I wasn't fabbing components) which gave me a nice intro to the basics of how a car engine operates, but whilst parts of it are pretty simple to get it's helpful to see the process. Even if it's a monolithic gif that annoys web developers. Or if it only shows one kind of engine design. [1] http://www.scientificsonline.com/smithsonian-gas-engine-model-kit.html http://www.scientificsonline.com/smithsonian-gas-engine-mode... is pretty close, but mine was a bit more basic. 15 years seems to have improved science kits a bit.
- alirov 13y agoI had that same engine you link to as a kid except mine was orange instead of blue. It's definitely one of my more memorable childhood toys and even though a fairly basic representation of an engine, I agree that it was a great intro. On a side note, I remember the screwdriver that kit came with was ridiculously bad. It made stripping the included screws really easy and made putting together the model more of a chore than it should've been.
- Gravityloss 13y agoAir != oxygen. Only 20% of air is oxygen. If the air to fuel ratio is 10, then the oxygen to fuel ratio is only 2.
- Arjuna 13y agoHi fellow gear-heads... very cool engine graphics! On a related note, I wanted to add that, if you are not familiar with dual-clutch transmissions [1], they are pretty interesting. One example (many manufacturers offer this type of transmission) is the Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (or simply PDK) [2], developed by Porsche. It is essentially two gearboxes in one complete transmission package, where both gearboxes possess their own clutch. When a gear is selected in one gearbox, the next gear is pre-selected in the other gearbox. The result is a nearly-instantaneous gear change, with smooth power delivery. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-clutch_transmission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-clutch_transmission [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Zh-nQPh_8&t=33 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Zh-nQPh_8&t=33
- chiph 13y agoThe new Corvette does something interesting - there's a sensor on the manual gear shift lever that predicts what gear you're going to select, and will do the rev matching for you. Result is a perfect downshift, every time.
- kirse 13y agoYep, Nissan's 370Z has had SynchroRevMatch as part of its Sport/NISMO packages for a few years now, and from what I've heard through friends it's very simple and works really well... Although it makes me wonder at what point on the spectrum does a "manual" become an "automatic" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronized_down_shift_rev-matching_system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronized_down_shift_rev-mat...
- crististm 13y agoNow, if software was that modular... Sigh...
- icecreampain 13y agoOne day, when the sun is shining and the birds are happily chirping away in the trees, someone is going to submit a similar headline. "How X works", with X being something interesting. "How slowing down your metabolism with paint thinner works" or something. I'll click on the article link, like I usually do and one day the article will be just one sentence. "Well"
- acheron 13y agoI had a rather vague idea of these processes so it was great to see everything laid out simply. As a Subaru driver, I was trying to picture how the cylinders in a flat/boxer engine are attached to the crankshaft: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_engine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_engine has a simple animation that shows it if anyone else is interested.
- spacecadet 13y agoLove engines! Just put 500 break-in-miles on a recent VW Boxer "Shortblock" Rebuild I did this summer! This one is an early Bosch Fuel Injection(DigiFant), almost like sensor-assisted carburetor.. it's funky. Totally "hackable"..
- allworknoplay 13y agoSince we've got a bunch of awesome gearheads commenting, can someone tell me why manual transmission is so easy to stall out? Particularly between say 1st and 2nd (although I'm sure it's got nothing to do with the actual gears). Just curious. ...aside from obvious commentary of my abilities driving manual ;)
- X-Istence 13y agoThe only time I have stalled out is when I am pulling away in first and let the clutch come up to fast. If you are stalling your engine going from 1st to 2nd you are doing something wrong, since the wheels are moving at that point. Even if you let the clutch come up too fast the engine won't stall because the wheels will keep turning it. It might shudder and definitely not like the low RPM's, but it shouldn't stall. With a manual all there is between the engine is the clutch and the transmission. When the clutch is engaged your engine to your wheels is a single straight line (with some gears in between, but lets ignore those for now). If your engine has a lot of power it will simply turn the wheels, however in most cases the engine is just simply not strong enough to break the friction of the tires agains the ground, especially in lower RPM's. When you slowly let the clutch up, what you are doing is having the engine turn faster than the pipe connected to the wheels, by using some friction material you transfer SOME of the power from the engine to the pipe connected to the wheels, as you continue rolling eventually the pipe connected to the wheels catches up and spins at the same speed as the engine (once again, ignore gearing), at that point you can let the clutch up entirely (thereby basically connecting it directly). When you go from first to second, you use RPM matching to have the engine spin at the same speed as the pipe on the other end. When the RPM's match, you let the clutch up and from there you can start providing more power by pushing the gas pedal. See more about clutch construction here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clutch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clutch --- In most automatics there is a device called a torque converter that takes care of the friction part of the clutch for you. Interestingly enough it does this using fluid rather than friction material. There are fins on both sides of the torque converter, the two sides can freely spin. One side is connected to the engine, the other side is connected to the gear box. As you press the gas pedal, one side forces fluid through a series of fins, this whips the fluid into motion, this fluid is then forced through another series of fins on the other half. Because of the pressure difference in the fluid it will eventually have enough power to start forcing the other side (attached to the gear box and the wheels) to start moving. At some point the engine side is spinning just as fast as the wheel side, at that point most torque converters will actually lock. Now the torque convertor is directly connecting the engine to the transmission to the wheels. When it switches gears, it disengages the torque converter lock, lowers the engine RPM's (even if you keep pressing the gas, it will use the computer to inject less gas temporarily), switch gears in the gear box, let the torque converter do it's thing, and once RPM's match closely re-engage the torque convertor lock. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_converter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_converter
- danysantiago 13y agoI loves this kind of graphical information. If your more curious, here is a really old video with a really good explanation on differentials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F40ZBDAG8-o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F40ZBDAG8-o
- deelowe 13y agoAwesome. Would be cool to add the W engine configuration as well.
- rozap 13y agoThat would probably just serve to confuse people, as it's essentially two VR* engines grafted together. The VR6 is, while more common than the W's, still fairly obscure even within the VAG line of autos, and certainly outside of it. So, yes, they're cool machines, but probably not a whole lot of utility in this context as they work the same way, but in a funky shape :)
- zwieback 13y agoLove it, best thing on HN today! Could you add diesel and 2 stroke?
- lhc- 13y agoDon't forget the Wankel (rotary) engine! Few people have even heard of them, and even fewer have any idea what they are or how they work. I love my dorito on a stick.
- zwieback 13y agoDown the street from where I lived in Stuttgart someone owned a NSU Ro 80. I also remember seeing a few Mazda rotary pickups in my early years in the US - very cool but apparently not very reliable and very inefficient.
- phatboyslim 13y agoRelevant visual reference: http://www.animatedengines.com/wankel.html http://www.animatedengines.com/wankel.html
- mzs 13y agohttp://www.animatedengines.com/index.html http://www.animatedengines.com/index.html Even steam engines.
- iota 13y agoI am now more useful in a post-apocalyptic world. Awesome!
- OldSchool 13y agoI'm going to suggest that if you want to call yourself an engineer in any field, you should be able to quickly understand, among other things, how engines and air conditioning work. If not, there's always the management track ;) Good to see there are some other gearheads here.
- umsm 13y agoA professor in college once told me that if you can't explain a technology, you might as well assume it's magic.
- peterwwillis 13y agoIsn't that how medicine works?
- gxs 13y agoI agree. When I first started looking into medications like Aderall, it was surprising to find how little we actually know about how medicine works. Take the above example - we really don't know how it works. We measure the amount of dopamine/serotonin in the spine before and after you take it so we assume it increases the presence of those chemicals in the brain, but it's not really mapped out. A lot of people have the misconception that we understand the body the way we understand other technologies. That you can balance a chemical equation and deduce how something will effect the body. While we understand a lot, this really isn't the case. And for all practical purposes it sometimes is treated like "magic".
- Thrymr 13y agoWe even have a Ministry of Medical Magic in the US now: http://nccam.nih.gov http://nccam.nih.gov
- salgernon 13y agoThats really depressing. You know what they call alternative medicine that works? Medicine. (cf: Tim Minchin, 'Storm' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGuXCuDb1U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGuXCuDb1U)
- rayiner 13y agoThe underlying math: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_cycle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_cycle.
- echohack 13y agoThis is a great illustration that demonstrates why gasoline engines NEED to die and be replaced by better, more efficient engines.
- abruzzi 13y agoThe problem isn't the efficiency of the engine, but the efficiency of storing energy. Gasoline and diesel are very good at that, and are easily replenished. If your concern is the complexity of all the moving parts, rotary engines and 2-stroke engines are significantly simpler, but ultimately 4 stroke reciprocating engines make more sense.
- Too 13y agoEspecially the following quote about halfway down in the infographic: "Engines get hot - the cooling system of a car going down the freeway dissipates enough heat to keep two average-sized homes warm!" Think about that for a while. ICE's just have a thermal efficiency of about 30%, the rest becomes heat.
- jimbobimbo 13y agoThank you very much! I'm trying to get better at understanding how cars work and this presentation helps immensely.
- lutorm 13y agoOmg I can't believe they omitted the V-4! This is a fun video about ignition order: http://youtu.be/MwEbwKBic6w http://youtu.be/MwEbwKBic6w (though it's more complicated since there are both 180 and 360 degree-firing V4s).
- peterwwillis 13y agoIt also left out the inline-6 (different from the flat-6) and the wankel. Here's a couple more piston configurations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Piston_engine_configurations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Piston_engine_configur... http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-physics-of-engine-cylinder-bank-angles-feature http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-physics-of-engine-c... Another fun subject is harmonic vibration and balance. Certain configurations require things like balance shafts and harmonic balancers (arguably unnecessary fluff) to offset the intense vibration, and modifying your engine can result in it self-destructing if this isn't taken into account. Inline and flat 6's and 12's are the best balanced, though the inline is more efficient and requires less maintenance than the flat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V6_engine#Balance_and_smoothness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V6_engine#Balance_and_smoothnes... http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=509340 http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=509340
- touristtam 13y agoother notable omission are: the 2 stroke engine (commonly found in 2 wheel urban vehicle now these days) and the Miller cycle that was used in the Mazda Xedos 9.
- busterarm 13y agoNot MY engine. Rotary :D
- simba-hiiipower 13y agothis is really cool. would love to see one breaking-down wankel engines as well. though i'm not technical by any means, i've always sort of got the high-level around how reciprocating/piston-based engines function. wankel engines seem a lot more efficient in terms of design but also weirdly complex. still kind of a mystery to me as to how they work and unfortunately there aren't too many cars around these days that run on em to check out..
- harshadura 13y agoawesome, thanks
- ChuckMcM 13y agoThis is an awesome infographic. One of the most used books in our home school curriculum was "The Way Things Work" which, for the most part, covered pretty much all of the things that we needed it to. We also took apart a few things to get a more 'hands on' appreciation of the mechanics. For engines though, the "Suck, Squash, Bang, Blow" mantra used in the Secret Life of Machines was perhaps the most durable for my kids.
- Cookingboy 13y agoI always loved how internal combustion engines can be summed up into 4 words: Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow. Of course that means intake, compression, combustion and exhaustion :)
- etler 13y agoWell I finally know what octane means.
- Pitarou 13y agoAm I the only one who sees all that complexity and yearns for a Tesla? (3 moving parts.)
- walshemj 13y agoWhich is the same number of moving parts as a basic two stroke engine. The trouble is the damn heavy and slow to charge batteries plus of course the environmental efects of mining all the battery materials. What we need is a fuel cell based car with electric drive.
- shire 13y agoFinally I can learn how a car works and become a real man, thanks!
- Sarkie 13y agoI love this video for explaining how steering works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYAw79386WI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYAw79386WI
- known 13y agoCompressed air car engine would be interesting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_car https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_car
- zukhan 13y agoIs anyone else getting a 403 error? I think HN crashed his site.