Combustion engines grind Linus Torvalds' gears
- Reference: 1730309410
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/10/30/linus_torvalds_ev/
- Source link:
The creator of the Linux kernel shuns the traditional method of transport loved by many wealthy motorheads in tech and swapped out his aging banger for a sturdy Volvo all-electric car.
“I don't like combustion engines and the instant torque at low RPM just makes [EVs] more fun to drive,” he said in an interview with [1]TFiR at the [2]Open Source Summit in Vienna. “I’m not that interested in the whole self-driving [thing].”
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That’s just as well because The Reg isn’t sure when that specific transportation nirvana is going to show up. It’s been predicted by Musk to emerge in Europe and China during 2025 but … Musk and grandstanding forecasts? Best to apply the brakes on any hopes for now.
[4]
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Torvalds said: “We had a 20-year-old car that we replaced with a modern EV and I like the fact that, okay, it does lane following and it does all the basics that our old car did not do but at the same time, yeah, it's like a small detail in the big picture.”
EV motors are “simpler,” and manufacturers don’t need a “decade of experience to make a good electric motor,” said Torvalds. “The number of moving parts in a traditional engine and an electric motor is like two orders of magnitude different.”
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Unlike some tech bros, the world’s most famous software developer sees his car as an appliance not an appendage. He reckons it runs Linux, “but I don’t touch it”.
The new generation of electric Volvo cars runs on the VolvoCars.OS, and it says the [7]underlying operating systems include Android Automotive, OS, Autosar, and Linux. Not that Torvalds wishes to tinker with such things in his vehicle.
“I'm not a car person and I say that as somebody who actually had a sports car for 20 years. I had this small two seater convertible that I really liked driving but even then I was never really a car person, so a car to me is just … convenience.”
[8]Linus Torvalds: 90% of AI marketing is hype
[9]Linus Torvalds affirms expulsion of Russian maintainers
[10]Linus Torvalds declares war on the passive voice
[11]Fed-up Torvalds suggests disabling AMD's 'stupid' performance-killing fTPM RNG
“One of the advantages of EV was this whole smooth acceleration and not having to change gears, [which] … made the car so much better, while a lot of serious car people hate that part, they want the rumble of the V8 … they like whole manual gear changing."
So the allure of self-driving cars doesn’t seem to be a feature for Torvalds, just the rapid acceleration and the easier use of driving, though he didn’t mention the environment, the cost of buying EVs or the price and lack of infrastructure to charge them.
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And we presume the more mature Linus doesn’t partake in road rage, in the same way [13]he no longer shouts at fellow developers when behind the keyboard. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4wlrxFf2lM
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/30/kernel_611/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZyK6ltFJjItPH3TcefCm4wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZyK6ltFJjItPH3TcefCm4wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZyK6ltFJjItPH3TcefCm4wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZyK6ltFJjItPH3TcefCm4wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/283545/future-volvo-cars-to-run-on-volvo-operating-system-as-company-takes-software-development-in-house
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/29/linus_torvalds_ai_hype/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/23/linus_torvalds_affirms_expulsion_of/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/08/linus_torvalds_grammar_complaint/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/31/linus_torvalds_ftpm/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZyK6ltFJjItPH3TcefCm4wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2018/09/17/linus_torvalds_linux_apology_break/
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Hmmmm...
EV motors are “simpler,” and manufacturers don’t need a “decade of experience to make a good electric motor,”
Nice to see he's talking about something he's an expert on.
Working in prototype, I can tell you one major car manufacturer is currently on their 12th redesign of a motor housing in two years.
It's not uncommon for a car maker to get through at least 6 or 7 designs.
Then there are the battery housings...
Oh and yes, the motor doesn't need ten years of design, but the batteries are still in their relative infancy.
Meanwhile another manufacturer is phasing out their 20 year old block oh and excuse me while I go and get some 1960 designed blocks that are going in state of the art military vehicles out the door.
Re: Hmmmm...
Buy our $LUXURY_GERMAN_BRAND because of our engineering heritage
You mean that nearly 100years ago you went around the Nurbergring for the Fuhrer ?
And that means what for EVs ?
Although I do have a BMW i3 and it's awesome. Weighs nothing, out accelerates most of Stuttgart's finest 0-30 and has such aggressive regen breaking you can drive one footed like a gocart. If it didn't have the range of an asthmatic gerbil it would be perfect
Re: Hmmmm...
Just as well there are no other areas of expertise other than the means of propulsion required to design a car.
Like suspension, brakes, climate control, safety systems ... oh wait...
The ICE has been refined to the point that they can be banged out cheaply and are basically bullet proof and/or disposable. There might be a lot going on inside but you almost never have to deal with that. When was the last time you heard of someone having their engine rebuilt?
On the other hand can you imagine the complexity of managing regenerative braking? You still need to cut back and forth to the friction brakes in various scenarios and do it so smoothly the driver doesn't notice. If the battery is fully charged you have no where for possibly hundreds of kW of power to go. The rear axle (assuming 2WD) always needs friction braking. To maintain driver feel you blend in the friction brakes at low speeds (so that the motor can simulate creep therefore cannot be generating). I'd love to have a go at that software but I imagine Bosch or Denso can sell you a box off the shelf to do it all.
The complexity comparison for individual components is a complete non sequitur. A car is a package.
Makes perfect sense
Inasmuch as we generate the bulk of our electricity by mechanically rotating a magnetic couple inside a static coil (stator), it makes sense that we would then apply this electricity to produce rotational motion at a given point of use (eg. the wheel of a vehicle, a blender, a fridge's compressor, etc ...). The fuel explosions used in ICEs are much less symmetrical and elegant IMHO (and way less efficient).
Those knowledge advances made 200 years ago by Charles Augustin Coulomb, André-Marie Ampère, Michael Faraday, and James Clerk Maxwell, really rocked!
Re: Makes perfect sense
>The fuel explosions used in ICEs are much less symmetrical and elegant IMHO
Not a Mazda RX-8 owner then ?
the rumble of the V8
As that was mentioned I had a look and a listen to this rather stunning video years ago and when doing that I suddenly realised I still miss the sound of a V8.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI2sgyoiL1o
And this is of course as important as this article.
PS. what is that "flag" in the very beginning.
Re: the rumble of the V8
My EV (like most) makes noises at low speed to alert bystanders. I've thought that there should be options for that noise (putt, putt, BANG for Model T aficionados; V8 noises for you, etc.)
Re: the rumble of the V8
A friend of my dad was a serious petrol head, I remember as a kid being driven in a Lancia Delta Integrale and a Ferrari (not sure which) and being amazed at the acceleration.
Today, a VW ID.4 gives you the same glued to the back of the seat experience for a fraction of the price.
No wow factor involved, but, like Linus, for me a car is just a means of transportation, not a token of virility :)
Linus knows way too much about software
To trust a self driving car!
Google will be cheering
They can keep tabs on Linus from his car.
More syping means more ad revenue for Google.
Dump Google and don't buy a car powered by Google. You know it makes sense.
Smartest person in the room
Elon Musk, of course! Not only does he know all about EVs (Tesla), self driving cars (FSD - coming next year), digital currency (Dogecoin), space rockets (SpaceX), computer implants (Neuralink), social media (Xitter), mass transportation (Hyperloop), tunnelling (Boring Company) and AI (xAI + OpenAI). Can't wait for his thoughts on software development and Linux kernel internals.
Re: Smartest person in the room
Elon Musk?
Hes that paypal guy right?
Re: Smartest person in the room
Space X is certainly an ongoing screaming success. The reason why seems to be hiring some highly capable visionary engineers, some of whom were thwarted while working at NASA, others who put opportunity to excel at their job above job security. Telsa (excluding FSD) was similar but seems like it might have flattened out. xAI might or might not be a big success - if it is then like space X, it is because of making a space for capable engineers to have the opportunity to excel.
Whatever you think of him, it's worth understanding the things he has done right, not just the things he has done wrong. I don't think the successful parts requires a CEO being a carbon-copy of Musk by any means. If fact, I wouldn't recommend it. But they should be able to identify success and its ingredients.
It's not the electric motor
Man, I loved my EVs, they were great to drive. When they worked.
The motors are the simplest part and usually never break unless they're SEVERELY abused.
It's all the other sh*t that breaks.
The motor controller board. The battery management system board. The DC fast charging interface board. The slow charging system. The main controller board that talks to all the other boards. The HV contactors welding shut. The $5 phase sensor that makes a brushless DC motor work. Teslas have a 12v lead-acid battery that a lot of people don't know about, and if that loses its charge, the entire car is dead.
And there's no actual diagnostics or training that I've seen. They just roll out the parts cannon and start swapping $1,000 boards on your dime.
I saw one where they swapped ALL the boards, and it was the main ground hanging on by one strand. They crimped on a new connector and all the gremlins went away.
I went back to gas.
Dumb interviewers
Torvalds is a clever guy, but I'm not interested in his opinions on subjects he's not expert on. And I wish he and other "pundits" wouldn't go along with interviewers trivial questions.
Linux, yes. Dealing with idiots, yes. Open source, probably. Gen AI, possibly. Cars, no.