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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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[–] FlyingSquid 7 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I'm not understanding your "it can't be standardized if it's too complicated" argument. That hasn't seemed to have been a big issue for, for example, computer motherboards.

[–] jacksilver -2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

A counterpoint to that is things like batteries, ram, motherboards, etc. in laptops (and pretty much every other device that uses rechargeable batteries). The fact is that for better designs the batteries are probably not going to be easily standardized in electric cars (also kills innovation).

PC motherboards aren't trying to use the least amount of space possible, because desktops can be large. The same isn't true with cars, the space matters.

[–] FlyingSquid 7 points 6 months ago

Notebooks can be small. Those motherboards are also using standardized elements.

This is just silly defeatism.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Motherboard standardization is not even close to comparable.

You have to standardize the dimensions and unlatching mechanism of a huge battery out from under the car and latching a new one in. It has to support a battery that weighs around 2 tons. This isn't just a matter of scaling up a AA battery connector. And then you have to convince all, or at least most, of the manufacturers to do that in order for network effects to help the process. Since we've had to do a lot before manufactures settled on a plug design, we're not likely to do the same for batteries.

[–] FlyingSquid 6 points 6 months ago

And then you have to convince all, or at least most, of the manufacturers to do that in order for network effects to help the process.

Yes, that is how standardization works.

Since we’ve had to do a lot before manufactures settled on a plug design, we’re not likely to do the same for batteries.

Unless it's regulated for them to do so. Time for the EU to step up.