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Comment by peapicker | Hacker News Reader

I love my combustion engine car and don't plan to go electric next time... but this article made me think. And while perhaps a little too optimistic on timeline, I have to concede that his premise regarding moving parts has merit.

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If it's any comfort, I don't think combustion engines will go anywhere. They will likely be relegated to a romantic niche, however.

It happened with vinyl and film already, most famously. They were announced to have met their end and were doomed to be but a mark in history books, yet they've found their place. A fine-tuned masterpiece of mid-20th century automotive engineering is a thing of beauty, but it's not sustainable on a vast scale anymore -- and that's what we need for transportation now. We need transport on a vast scale -- a worldwide, ubiquitous, affordable scale. Everyone needs access without harming the planet that we so happily live upon.

If it combustion engine vehicles become about beauty, they will last in some form. I hope they do.

I've been pondering this. I think gasoline could become hard to get very rapidly. There are already fewer gas stations along the interstates as car ranges have increased. As electrification takes hold, less demand drives the price of gas lower. At what point is it too cheap to stock at a convenience store? Right now those stores are built around it, gas brings in visitors. If less people want gas, their whole model has to change. No c-stores around sort of means not many places to get gas. will battery prices ever go up?

That's an interesting path to go down. It's pretty hard to predict for certain.

People thought that vinyl manufacturing would never exist again, but new "boutique" pressing plants have emerged over time with people dedicated and passionate about the design of the machines and the quality control process.

I imagine you could see something similar with gas, though of course the scale is very different.

My father was a pipe fitter in an oil refinery for ~30 years, and he started doing it because he loved the craft. Over the years the large companies' treatment of their employees made him a bit jaded, but if it's a smaller operation I imagine you could see passions emerge again.

In spite of the obvious benefits of automated vehicles, especially for long trips, I can see some people still enjoying the feeling of driving on the open road. And even if automated vehicles are the prominent mode for long trips, there will still exist a need for rest stops, truck stops, etc. They just might be a little different.

There could probably be boutique gas/fuel stores. Maybe someplace that offered charging stations, new fully-charged batteries, and various brands of artisan gasoline. And of course, they'd have a fridge full of Coca Cola and a shelf of chips and Oh Henry bars.

Dammit, I'm seeing the makings of a fun fictional world here...

I love my combustion cars too but the Tesla puts them all to shame. It's just better in every way but two: Initial price and range. Economies of scale and competition will fix the first and recharging stations have already mostly fixed the second. I encourage skeptics to drive one. It's an astonishing vehicle.

Puts them to shame how? The Tesla standard of luxury is light years behind that of cars like the S Class. The standard of performance is strictly limited going from 0 to 60, and not sustaining it.

I've driven it, and I've driven other high end cars of it offers very little that you can't find in other high end cars.

The novelty of instant acceleration is fine, but the insulation from wind noise and road noise are still not on par with high end brands even though there's no ICE (and it's not because there's no ICE noise to cover up, in a modern S Class the cabin is almost whisper quiet), and if performance is you goal.

You don't (knowledgeably) get a Tesla because you want the best car, you get one because you want a Tesla. To me cars like the S Class shame the Model S for trying to call itself a "luxury car", and cars like C63 AMGs shame it for calling itself a "performance sedan"

You're probably right about the luxury aspect; I'm not that into luxury. The things that excite me are performance and utility. The P100D is extremely quick [0] and that matters not just on the drag strip but when passing on the highway. The lack of a transmission means the acceleration curve is absolutely monotonic without gaps for gear changes. Regen braking means the car slows down quickly when you back off the throttle. I've never driven a car that had such a direct connection between your foot's position and the car's velocity.

The Model S also has two trunks and can carry six passengers (okay two have to be kids). This thing is as practical as a minivan and has the performance of a 911 turbo. I find that pretty amazing.

[0] http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a30536/tesla-model...

Why is accelerating from 0 - 60 in a few seconds so important for people when their journey would largely be for minutes/hours?

Its not like going to office/supermarket/school/college/home is a race.

That's kind of my point, it doesn't really matter in everyday driving, and if you're interested in some "spirited driving", you want a car with more wholistic performance.

Instantaneous acceleration is nice for stop and go traffic and city driving, but that's inherent to all EVs (A base model Volt as fast from 0 to 30 as a Model S 85)

> Tesla puts them all to shame.

Too bad they can't get their seat belts to work..

http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCAKBN19R08Y-OCA...

https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/6ljmed/tesla_m...

Range is key to me... I live in the southwest us, a drive to see family is 450-700 miles.

I live in the southwest US too, and the Tesla seemed impractical until about a year ago. Now, however, they have pretty good supercharger coverage.

http://www.teslarati.com/map/

Even a fully electric car uses a substantial amount of petroleum based products

Likewise aircraft, which will not run practically on batteries for at least another decade. But the elimination of cars will decrease a volume of petroleum consumption large enough to pose an existential challenge to many oil companies.

At least that carbon is sequestered in the body of the car though?

I think the point is that a lot was released in the manufacturing of those parts.

That makes sense, thanks.

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