"Just to meet business-as-usual trends, 115% more copper must be mined in the next 30 years than has been mined historically until now," the study said.

“Just to meet business-as-usual trends, 115% more copper must be mined in the next 30 years than has been mined historically until now,” the study said.

  • @NotMyOldRedditName
    3•6 months ago

    Wiring harnesses from traditional automotive companies are quite long. This is quote from Ford’s CEO

    ““We didn’t know that our wiring harness for Mach-E was 1.6 kilometers longer than it needed to be. We didn’t know it’s 70 pounds heavier and that that’s [cost an extra] $300 a battery,””

    4km is normal

    https://q5d.com/escalating-function-dilemma/

    "Some modern vehicles contain close to 40 different harnesses, comprised of roughly 700 connectors and over 3000 wires. If taken apart and put into a continuous line, these wires would exceed a length of 2.5mi (4km) and weigh approximately 132lbs (60kg). Five years ago, vehicles had 25% less circuits than today’s cars. Five years from now, that number will increase by more than 30%. "

      • @NotMyOldRedditName
        2•6 months ago

        Fair, but you can’t do 12v ethernet like they’ve done with 48v. The cables would be too big

        So unlocking 48v allowed the change which allowed lesser cabling.

        Tesla claims it’s 77% cable reduction and 50% copper.

        Edit: also Teslas wiring harnesses have been smaller than industry standard for years. If others made the switch and moved to an etherloop as well, the copper savings would be even bigger than what Tesla experienced.