Internal combustion engines are genuinely a marvel. The level of mechanical complexity appeals to the same part of my brain that loves pinball. However, pinball (to my knowledge) doesn’t regularly cause wars, crash the economy, destroy the earth, and depend on consuming massive amounts of oil.

March 25, 2026 - 15:48 UTC

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The electric motor, by comparison, is just some wires and magnets and a bit that spins around really fast. This simplicity, especially compared to the Rube Goldberg contraption of internal combustion, should be a big clue as to which one is inevitably going to be the better option.
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People (like myself) who actually think about machines and how they work realized this, oh, 20 years ago but as we've established thinking isn't that popular these days.
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