The timing of this may seem weird given my last video and ~world events~ but what I'm really trying to do with these videos is to get folks who don't understand much about engines to get to where I'm at:

These contraptions are insane and the only reason we don't think that is b/c we're used to 'em.

March 21, 2026 - 15:43 UTC

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It's still amazing that every IC engine I've owned has been as reliable as they were! I've never had engine problems. Transmission problems, A/C problems, broken seat adjusters, bad software, yes. But the engines themselves have been amazingly reliable considering.
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They really look like convoluted Rube Goldberg machines compared to the EV drivetrain
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youtube.com/shorts/O1Okflb2uMk?si=9Q2l9Wc_EbR92PPT
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Your video and Garbage Time really made me realise how mechanics I feel are sorta seen as having (because of the ubiquitousness of cars I guess) having a sort of strenuous but not super complex job if that makes sense? Like engines are made and maintained with such precision it’s crazy.
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Just want to say as someone who grew up with a gearhead for a father who has been knuckle deep in my own vehicles many times and will be again now that the weather has gotten nice, you did a great job explaining the fundamentals and how vital the oil of the engine is.

Take care of your cars.
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As an automotive enthusiast I loved this video and this series! You are so good at explaining things in a way that most gearheads just aren't. I've been sending this series to friends of mine because I know they'll actually learn something!
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So the spoiler in the TBD podcast wasn't much of a spoiler given the timing lol
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Offer them an internal combustion phone.
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that's exactly what i've learned: that engines are macgyver-ass doohickeys and it's wild that they ever work for even a second
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I don’t understand half the shit about cars and I honestly don’t want to I just want to get from point a to point b quickly and without hassle
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I understand much less than half of the shit about cars but I’ve always wanted to Know Things About Things and I love that my favorite channel is doing videos about car stuff☺️
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I've always loved engines a lot, but honestly, you kinda changed my mind with the video you made about a month back. I watched the engine video immediately before watching that one, and your emphasis on superior longevity, operating costs, and permanent infrastructure changed my mind instantly.
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Internal combustion engines should be reserved for special applications. They are too inefficient and ancient for common use.
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I’m traveling with family and myself and my sister own EVs and we have a rental Toyota and she keeps complaining about its lack of throttle response and immediate acceleration. We feel like we’re driving a steam engine around.
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Hell yeah!
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note my quote tweet is entirely celebratory and not to make you feel bad

i am just ecstatic to know my woke evil genius plans are working
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@techconnectify.bsky.social As a German mechanical engineer I'm of course fascinated with engines and also baffled by how cheaply they can be made today. It'll be wild to see what the world might look like with the same level of optimization going into electric drive trains and I can't wait […]
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Well, both videos can (sure, not quite) be summarised as „Abolish ICE“. That's close enough for me.
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Thanks, I watched Angela Collier's awesome video about Car Talk yesterday and now this happens!

I'm eating good learning about a technology stack I don't own
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I expect an object to spend its entire lifetime outside in the elements, careen at 100kmh for 2 hours per day while keeping me perfectly safe and comfortable, pay fuckall for its maintenance despite doing this for years and pay only as much as 200 McMeals because it’s secondhand. It’s incredible!
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To me the timing mostly seems weird because a friend of mine had to cancel plans because their car broke down because a lack of oil exactly two hours ago when this video was published.

If only you got it out a little sooner!
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Your video about the sensors on the catalytic converter made me appreciate just how complicated ICE engines are. It's one reason why the high price of EVs is so perplexing... Electric motors are so much simpler, why do we pay a price premium for them? Is it all in the cost of the batteries?
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Don't forget, we've been making these engines for 150 years. That much development and scale makes them cheaper to build.
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It is indeed mostly in the cost of the batteries.

If batteries were free EVs would be much less expensive to produce than ICE cars. But on the total cost-of-ownership metric we're already well past the tipping point, and we're close on the purchase cost metric.
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"The timing of this may seem weird"

I thought you weren't going to talk about timing
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the blank stares i get when i ask other subaru owners how often they change their oil lol
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NO
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Once/year (diesel Forester)
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it comes out when they replace the head gaskets
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I do when the light comes on and the car emails me.
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I do exactly what the manufacturer's manual says, I hope that isn't bad :(
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Am I right to describe ICE vehicles as being propelled via a series of sustained explosions of toxic chemicals?
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Yup, though the overly-pedantic will quibble with "explosions"

I will not, though. It's a fine word for what's happening even though technically they're not explosions.
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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.
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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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They're also engineered *WAY* past what they need to be for reliability. The spacing between cylinders, the mixing of metals on mounted surfaces, the insistence on getting the maximum horsepower out of every cubic centimeter of displacement. A reliable engine would only need to be 10-15% heavier.
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I remember when Toyota gave us the Mk4 Supra with a 2JZGTE which Toyota over engineered so much tuners were getting deep four figure hp numbers on the dino reliably and all because Toyota wanted to not repeat what happened with the Mk3's engine, and this was also during the Gentlemans Agreement era.
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The internal combustion engine is a modern marvel and it's a miracle we ever figured out how to get them to work and as such are fascinating. They are also very bad for the environment. That you convey these two things well is one reason I really enjoy your channel.
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I work in hardware, and I'm in constant amazement at how insane the technology at our fingertips is. The decades of brainpower gone into protocols and digital designs are constantly blowing my mind. Cars and engines are the same. We take a lot for granted because we see them every day!
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They are a magnificent example of what 100 years of intense innovation can do.
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Carrier aircraft during WWII had to spend 15 minutes warming up on the flight deck before taking off because if the oil wasn't at working temperature and the pilot applied full military power the engine would explode.

Engines are very cantankerous.
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Just watched your conversation with Matt Ferrell and his brother and really enjoyed it. This bit about how crazy engines are and also the bit about people need to just pull on the thread and learn things was great.
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Would be interested to see some comparable vids about EV motors and tech too... e.g. how the power inverters work to move magnets around in a circle and vice versa on regen. Like it's equally as bonkers as the gas engine but in a physics is magic and how we figured it all out is insane kinda way.
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Seriously, I am used to them, I have torn apart gas, and diesel engines, I still think they are insane. "so we harness the power of small scale explosions in a tightly enclosed space, by pumping burny juice from huge tank of burny juice, and then make it explode, several thousand times a minute."
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Technically combustion is not an explosion…
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The modern internal combustion engine is a miracle and then another miracle’s worth of tricks and hacks to get it so efficient we’re probably at 95% of what is *physically* possible.

There’s really no tech or gains to be made there anymore. We reached the apex.
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There are those people who deny themselves engine maintenance as like some sort of "getting ripped off by the oil industry" flex, but it really matters that the machine with parts exceeding thousands of RPMs doesn't decide to weld itself to other parts.
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That literally happened to a relative once decades ago. They went to a lousy mechanic who took out the old oil but didn't put new oil in and the engine melted after about 15 minutes.
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There's literally no dimension in which ICE is better than EV. Having a vehicle the runs on explosive liquid will sooner or later be a niche hobby like having a horse.
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Which is GOOD THING, I don't get petrol heads with all this EV hatred. Like, it's just going to be for fun after this point which is all petrol heads want! I want it too! Gimme an EV for going to Tesco and a shed to play with my toy car in.
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Well now I want a horse that runs on explosive liquids.
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Loved the tease of this during your fantastic interview with Matt and his brother.
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It's like we opted for gas engines over electric when we were up to our eyeballs in cheap oil (Spindletop and beyond).
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Perfectly normal to just sit on top of a hunk of metal constantly making tiny explosions and letting it pull us around at tremendous speeds.
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your framing of the "you are buying the fuel to SET IT ON FIRE" in the renewables video has kept coming up in my brain every time I see a gigantic truck driving around these days lol
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