this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2025
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Had an ex-friend who was a motorhead arguing that electric motors will never beat ICE because they lack comparable torque. Look, I'm no mechanic, but I never got my head around that.
"You mean they don't have enough torque to run a US destroyer?! Someone should call the Navy."
Seriously, if you've played with even a tiny electric motor, provide DC, it goes, instantly. What could he have possibly been trying to say?
Electric motors don't have a torque curve like ICE, which is why they don't need a transmission. Those massive submarines run on electric motors.
I mean, the general appeal of ICE engines is the fuel, not the engine. Gasoline is generally more energy dense than lithium.
Nah, his complaint was lack of torque. Very strange, never got it. Figured he was repeating fossil fuel propaganda. But he was a motorhead!
And yes, energy density is the thing no one talks about when raging against fossil fuels. A gallon of refined gasoline packs insane energy. I've run my 5-gallon, crappy Harbor Freight generator all night into the morning, powering the camp, heaters and all, never came close to emptying it. Contrast that with a monster LIPO4 battery that died in 48-hours only powering LED lights. (Gotta admit, something weird happened there.)
I would love to replace work van with an electric one, but so far it's not possible for one main reason (other than cost)...I often tow quite heavy trailers and my diesel can tow 2500kg, but every electric van I've looked at can only tow 750kg. Maybe it's something to do with that?
Maybe just had torque confused with horsepower? That's been the historical trade-off between gas and electric. Sure, its very easy to get an electric motor to jump into action. But it is comparatively difficult to generate the same amount of power with equivalent fuel density.
Much of which is lost to heat when combusted, which is the historical hang-up.
Not that batteries don't have their own heating problems. But the benefit of batteries is that they're an engineering problem we can solve with miniaturization, which we've become incredibly good at. We're at a soft ceiling in terms of engine chemistry. Petroleum is about as refined as we're going to get it. Combustion's math is what it is. Improvements to the efficiency of modern engines have stalled out as an automotive tool, even to the point that a gas engine powering an electric capacitor in a hybrid yields performance improvements over the gas engine just spinning the wheels directly.
It is funny because electric motors have nearly unlimited* torque depending on the kind. If you have thick enough power cables and winding conductors, you can just keep pushing it harder to get more torque.
It is like the thing they are very good at, besides sound levels, double or triple the efficiency, low/no maintenance, simpler with less parts, no emissions, etc...
Literally the only good thing about combustion engines are their fuel source energy density.
I think the problem is that motorheads see the enshittification of the auto industry as a whole and just say it's because of electric motors because it happened right about the same time as EVs started coming out and try to push back on the wrong thing.
I think he was trying to admit he doesn't know shit about electric motors.
Tool companies need to nerf electric motors in drills to prevent wrists from breaking.
"EVs lack comparable torque to ICE" - guy in my rearview mirror
My parents had an original Prius and it was a weedy little car that made those two hippies really happy. If that was his only experience with electric cars I can see why he’d think that.
But the new ones are fucking rockets. I just don’t understand why they need all that. Can they make a cheaper one that’s got 300 horsepower?
Power sells, they can give that insane 0-60 sprint for very low cost, so it gets people to buy their product instead of a 6 liter V8.
I guess I’m really lamenting the death of the shitbox econo car.
Usually the electric cars with a larger motor are also more efficient, since the motor does not have to run near its peak all the time.
I put my hybrid into sport mode when I actually need the acceleration, like quick highway merges or cramped city turns in traffic. If I kept it in eco mode like I normally do, or even just normal mode, the acceleration would be limited and I'd either be unable to merge or would cause an accident.
Yeah drivers in my area are shitty, I know. Unfortunately I can't flip a switch and change their behavior.
Also sometimes it's just plain fun to go zoom (when safe, obviously).
I have the same sort of fun in my manual transmission gas car
He was trying to say that he spent too much time in a media bubble disconnected from reality.
These same idiots tell me my hybrid battery will only last 20,000 miles a cost $50,000 to replace. Yeah sure.
Yea I’ve been hearing that one since 2003 with my original Prius. That battery lasted 23 years before it crapped out, and modern battery tech is waaaaay better than that thing. Also it wouldn’t have been that much money to refurbish the battery if it hadn’t been too smashed up to bother.
Dunno, I feel every rev head knew about that evs have no torque curve and plenty of it. The concern to me head always been weight and range when on track. EVs are great in straight line, but have a lot more momentum in corners. They generally have narrower tires as well, which is great for range, but poor for grip
I need to torque a shit