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A comment on Tesla's batteries aim to rework the math for electric cars and the grid. Parent comment

Re:Tesla's batteries aim to rework the math for electric car... by eyesee on Thursday May 14, 2020 @02:37PM (#23183527)
It's tough to find fair comparisons. The Ioniq for example weighs 500 lbs less than the Tesla and has significantly less range as well.

In addition to aerodynamic improvements (which is of course a non-trivial engineering effort), Tesla does have a unique rear motor design that is more efficient, an industry-leading inverter design, and many incremental engineering efforts that cumulatively save several percentage points. Because they are "all-in" on an EV design they don't have to compromise because of a shared EV/Hybrid vehicle frame design for example.

The EPA listings also provide kWh/100 miles which I use for comparison to avoid the unfair MPGe equivalency.

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Re:Tesla's batteries aim to rework the math for electric car... by semi-extrinsic on Thursday May 14, 2020 @07:36PM (#23187059)
Yeah, I'm not saying the Tesla is poorly engineered. But OTOH it seems hard to argue they have some special sauce that gives them 20% advantage over everyone else. I don't see how they have a moat - partly because designs are already running close up against the fundamental physical limits e.g. in aerodynamics and power electronics.

Another example: the Hyundai Kona is a purely electric platform that doesn't need to compromise, and it matches the efficency of the Model Y.

[ Parent | on HN ]