Show HN: A stop-motion video of an engine

Suck, squeeze, bang, blow

Four words, four cycles - covers the majority of engines out there (including jet engines). 2-cycle engines are slightly different, but not by much. Steam engine are fairly simple to understand. Sterling engines can be difficult for some to wrap their heads around. Then there are the really esoteric engines (and I am not talking about a Wankel, which is also a 4-cycle engine)...

IC engines are - at a very basic level - very simple in operation. Where the complexity comes in from the theory is doing that cycle efficiently and quickly; the more efficient the engine needs to be, or the faster it needs to turn, the more complex things get (much of the complexity there is in fuel/air ratio delivery, exhaust handling, and oil distribution to bearings and such).

If you really want to know how a 4-cycle engine works, look into going to a "local" (if you have one nearby) antique engines show, and look around for these:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hit-and-miss_engine

They can be made to run slow enough that you can see all of their operations fairly clearly, plus they aren't all that complex (you could probably build one from hardware parts and a bit of welding). They are, however, extremely inefficient (and very messy - they sling oil/grease everywhere).

Ultimately, though - engines are simple. If your car ain't going, it's because one of a basic set of elements isn't being done - fuel, air, or spark. Now - what is causing one or more of those to be missing, that's where the "fun" is in auto mechanics...

It's kinda like how (in the days of old, at least) when you built a PC, if you didn't cut yourself and spilled a bit of blood (usually on a sharp case edge) - you were doing it wrong.

Instead, you have that one tight bolt you're wrenchin' and pullin' on - then suddenly it breaks free and WHAM, your knuckles get busted on the crossmember (or something else unforgiving).

Which is why, if you have the ability (leverage) and room, it always better to push on the handle of the wrench with an open palm or loose grip - that way if the bolt breaks loose, the inevitable won't occur...

Given how we've seen how lithium-based batteries like to die in catastrophic ways, I am not sure I would like to have a battery with the same energy density as gasoline. So it's a question not just of density, but safety.

On top of all that, the batteries need to be able to be charged quickly; 10 minutes to a full charge is probably the upper limit, 5 minutes would be ideal. But that would take a massive upgrade of electrical infrastructure, and I am also not sure you could make such a charger friendly for use by a consumer (not the safety aspect - more the handling aspect, as the conductors for carrying the current will likely have to be somewhat hefty).

There's also the fact that chargers would also need to be standardized (that's an industry thing, though - and if things work out for electric motors and batteries, I am sure a standard would come about).

But first and foremost is the battery tech, unless we want to say that, to go long distances (4-500 miles per charge), you need to use an IC engine in some manner (even as a hybrid), but shorter "in town" distances (which I agree, most people only do) can be handled by electrics.

That said, until a low-cost, real off-road vehicle becomes available as an electric (and I mean it has to be affordable for a regular person, not some $60-100k fantasy vehicle, which is mainly what is on the drawing board right now), I'm not very interested. But I'm not everyone, of course. I'm just not a "car guy" - I like my vehicles to be trucks or jeeps...