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Re:To Power the Future, Carmakers Flip on 48-Volt Systems by twic on Saturday February 10, 2018 @07:40PM (#16350479)
The specific number of 48V is presumably inherited from telecommunications:

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/10851/why-do...

There's lots of telecom equipment that works at 48V, so it's presumably cheap and easy for carmakers to find suppliers.

Re:To Power the Future, Carmakers Flip on 48-Volt Systems by GeorgeTirebiter on Saturday February 10, 2018 @11:34PM (#16351210)
There is practically no overlap between automotive and telecom. When I was at Tesla, we couldn't find even one manufacturer for common use subsystems (e.g. window motors). It's a chicken and egg problem for now. That's why 'everything' is still at 12V.
Re:To Power the Future, Carmakers Flip on 48-Volt Systems by jaclaz on Sunday February 11, 2018 @04:46AM (#16351994)
Canot say in the US, but in EU most trucks have (since I can remember) 24 V circuits, so there is anyway a long list of parts at 24 V manufactured.
Re:To Power the Future, Carmakers Flip on 48-Volt Systems by kev009 on Sunday February 11, 2018 @05:33AM (#16352107)
All US military vehicles (even COTS ones with civilian counterparts like the CUCV and newer) use 24v. So do most heavy trucks.
Re:To Power the Future, Carmakers Flip on 48-Volt Systems by kalleboo on Sunday February 11, 2018 @06:13AM (#16352205)
I would have assumed it's just because it's a multiple of the current 12V (so you could use shortcuts like wiring 4 existing 12V lamps in series)