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

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/xkcd

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

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

The reason why you may be able to diagnose an ICE by sound is because they're complex. That's not a positive. An electric motor has just a few moving parts. If it goes bad you don't really need to work to figure it out and fix it.

The rest of the arguments can be made, but as you imply they're disingenuous. The sound one is just not a benefit at all.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I was apprehensive about EVs but the first time I rode in one I immediately fell in love with it. I get carsick easily, and the super-smooth ride without the chug-chug-chug of an internal combustion engine made the experience surprisingly much more pleasant for me. I do not use a car, but if I had to buy one, I don't think I could ever stomach an ICE again knowing that this alternative is available.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Chug-chug-chug? Are you sure you weren't in a steam locomotive?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

I knew that motion sickness is triggered by frequent starts and stops and frequent turns, but even I was not aware of how big a contribution the engine vibration makes until I got to experience a ride without it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

At a stretch, I guess you could say that a battery that's going bad doesn't make a sound.

But yes, electric motors are way more reliable than internal combustion engines and objectively superior. You would never use an ICE over an EE for any application where you have a reliable supply of electricity.