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Solid state can run forever, theoretically. Tubes have a finite life, and fail at some point when they can't generate electrons.
I remember the old stoves with knobs and switches to turn the oven and burners on/off and from warm to hot. These stoves are still around after many years of use. But now we have stoves with electronic control panels and switches, and a simple power surge can toast the control panel.
Just because we switch from a proven internal combustion motor to an electric one, does not mean that the electric motor will outlast it. All the electronics in the cab is not necessarily reliable. An electric automobile still needs wheels with bearings, some sort of driveshaft, some must have CV-joints are the half-shafts, a bunch of rheostats (to regulate the speed of the car, the turn of the steering wheel, and so on). Reliability is a thing of the future in relation to electric cars, and I agree.
I like the hybrids. I like the idea of having internal combustion as a 'backup' incase something goes wrong. I also like the idea of the internal combustion recharging the batteries as needed. This would be important on things like cars that are constantly in use - car service as an example, or taking a cross-country trip.
Of course there are all kinds of things that can wrong in a vehicle, and most of those sources of failure are still present in an electric vehicle. But an EV doesn't need a transmission to allow drive ratios to be varied at different speeds (win!), and on the motor, there is no fuel system (win!), reduced needs for lubrication (win!), fewer moving parts subjected to frictional wear - no valve train and no pistons (win!), no combustion to introduce deposits (win!).
P.S. I forgot... also no exhaust system to rust out...
If eye rolls could be heard, it would be deafening.
Why the eye rolls? I stated facts. Modern laptops and phones don't have thermally managed battery packs, and get drawn down to 0 charge and charged back to 100 on nearly daily cycles. That's hard on batteries, which is why modern EVs don't DO that. Not even Telsas. How long is a laptop battery warrantied for? 1 year? 5 years? 8 years? Modern EV batteries are warranted for 8 years, and other than Leafs, very few battery packs have had to be replaced under warranty for modern EVs. BECAUSE of that management.
I think overall EV reliability vs an ICE car will come down to the battery. At one point Model S replacement batteries were nearly $40,000. The last time I checked a Model 3 replacement battery was around $7K. That will pay for a lot of repairs.
Having grown up in the days of carburetors and ignition points, I'll take a car stuffed full over modern electronics/technology any day of the week.
Here's some objective material which adds optimism to your statement
Quote:
Originally Posted by YourWakeUpCall
I think overall EV reliability vs an ICE car will come down to the battery. At one point Model S replacement batteries were nearly $40,000. The last time I checked a Model 3 replacement battery was around $7K. That will pay for a lot of repairs.
Having grown up in the days of carburetors and ignition points, I'll take a car stuffed full over modern electronics/technology any day of the week.
Here's an objective presentation which add optimism to your statement.
As an owner of two BEV and 12 cylinders of turbodiesel, I can say an EV is pretty much as reliable as a computer...mostly because the car and many of its functions are dependent on the computer, software, and battery. As for the mechanical aspect, EVs have far fewer moving parts, fluids, heat generation/heat waste, wear parts, etc.
I have 140K miles spread across the two EVs and haven't had a single issue. Just change the tires and refill the windshield washer fluid. My Duramax and TDI have 600K miles between the two. I've had a seized idler pulley bearing that sheered the serpentine belt, had to reseal the fuel injection pump, replace a broken clutch plate, and replace 12V batteries. No other issues and I do all the maintenance myself.
The problems will not come from the electric motor or the battery, just like very few problems on ICE cars come from the engine or drivetrain.
The problems will come from controls and sensors, which are the cause of most automobile reliability problems today. The one thing that gives me pause about the Tesla philosophy of design is the way they (at least by repute) integrate EVERYTHING into a central computer control. So the radio (nonessential) and the door locks (important) and the battery management (critical to function) are all thrown together and a problem could affect any and all functions. Plus I think Tesla have gone a little too gee-whiz with stuff thus adding even more complexity.
Even with the push to centralization of controls, most ICE cars' controls are more distributed, if my understanding is correct.
I have no knowledge of the other all-electric vehicles. Certainly the reputation of the Prius is that of a reliable vehicle, and the minimum required controls for a parallel hybrid are more complicated than the minimum required controls for a pure electric; the problem comes when designers start expanding past the minimum required controls.
In theory yeah, electric vehicles should be more reliable. Well except for that expen$ive and complex battery and battery management system.
In practice though? OEM's have been churning out internal combustion vehicles by the hundreds of thousands for longer than most of us have been alive. They're very good at it. The reliability of today's vehicles is a HIGH bar to get over.
So could it be done in theory? Sure.
Will it actually he done any time soon... particularly by a company that's new to automotive production? I doubt it
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Here's some objective material which adds optimism to your statement
