Why the Humble Capacitor Is the Electric Car Industry's New Crisis | Hacker News Reader

Why the Humble Capacitor Is the Electric Car Industry's New Crisis

oilprice.com

3 pointsPaulHoule3 comments

“A standard internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle requires roughly 3,000 Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCCs). A modern Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) requires up to 22,000.”

From another site

https://www.inkwoodresearch.com/multi-layer-ceramic-capacito...

“In contrast to a typical car with an internal combustion engine, which utilizes approximately 2,000 Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCCs), the Tesla Model 5 boasts a significantly higher count, nearing 10,000. Similarly, the transition from the iPhone 6s to the iPhone X marked a substantial increase in MLCC count per handset, jumping from 500 to 1,000 units.”

I don’t know a diode from a dipstick, but how can an iPhone fit a thousand of any discrete component in its case? A quick search found the smallest MLCC from one vendor (1515) to be .15x.15x.10 (in.).

https://www.circuitfunctions.com/mlcc-capacitor-size-chart/

A thousand of those seems to be 2.25 cu.in. That’s lot of real estate for an iPhone. I’m an idiot when it comes to these sorts of things…can someone explain?

>For the owner of a five-year-old EV, this results in a repair bill ranging from $3,000 to $4,500.

>This is the EV equivalent of a blown engine caused by a faulty spark plug.

Its an interesting problem. Many people focus on batteries and motors, but the fact that capacitors turn out to be so critical AND not replaceable seems to change the economics of EVs after 5 years.

Now that I look at it that article has AI tells like:

    In 2026, we are seeing a rising trend of "insulation fatigue."

But I dunno, I think there are always going to be enterprising techs who will figure out how to replace the $25 fuse inside a $2500 module. I've bought back more than one ICE car from the insurance company after it was totaled and managed to get it back on the road at a reasonable expense.

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