xkcd

8841 readers

19 users here now

A community for a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

koraro

1104

xkcd #2948: Electric vs Gas (xkcd.com)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/xkcd

738 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Alt text:

An idling gas engine may be annoyingly loud, but that's the price you pay for having WAY less torque available at a standstill.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 32 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I can. Electric car batteries last 10+ years, often longer than the body work of the car. Lookup Lithium Iron Phosphate, this has around 5-10x the cycle life of conventional lithium batteries. Combine this with the complex heating and cooling systems, battery and charging management in modern EVs and you have something that lasts as long or longer than even a diesel engine.

Cell phone batteries die quickly because both their construction and the way they are managed favour capacity, cost, and charging speed over longevity. Car battery design is much more focused on longevity by comparison. They are also cycled more often and more completely than most EVs.

Grid issues are a real problem. Cars can be used to make this worse or better depending on how they are deployed. If they are charged during peak energy production from solar they can actually help rather than hurt the grid.

You can also rapid charge a car in like 30 minutes. You don't need 12 hours.

[–] feedum_sneedson 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Thanks, I'm not sure why I was downvoted for asking a legitimate question.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago

I suspect people just assumed you were the same person who wrote the sarcastic comment before the one you replied to and that you were just being combative