Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

No, this is why big rigs make the same amount of maximum power at all points along the hill.

The reason hybrids have less power mid way up a hill is that they use the combined output of two power sources: the engine and motor(s). When hybrids deplete their battery, the only power remaining is the output from the engine. This mode of operation is unique to hybrids. The state-of-charge management software in hybrids attempt to mitigate this, but their batteries are only so big.



To be fair, most vehicle types have similar problems but they're a result of heat rather than battery exhaustion. In a pure battery EV you can run into thermal limits: drawing too much power for too long overheats the motor and batteries. Same thing happens in ICE vehicles, though I think the difference between max continuous power and max instantaneous power tends to be greater in EVs.


It always surprised me that gasoline engine manufacturers didn't cut down on the size of the radiator and cooling stuff to save money, and then say "you can only be full throttle for 1 minute at a time, and after that it will reduce to 60%". In a typical car use case, it's very very rare to be at full throttle for over a minute.


They have to have some wiggle room for high ambient air temps that happen in some places, and it’s cheaper to build one car than build a different one for each climate zone. If you go to a high performance driving event at a racetrack on a hot day, you’ll occasionally see cars that overheat.


It can happen if you're going up a long hill or towing something. Probably no car company wants their car to be known as "the car that can't make it up a hill without the radiator boiling over" even if it doesn't actually happen all that often.




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: