[preparedzebra]

The internal combustion engine seems to have been milked for all the efficiency our current materials can get out of it, while new materials and economies of scale in solar tech keep pushing prices lower. However, material science could also revolutionize the efficiency of engines and make them cost competitive with solar again. Solar-ification seems to be the trend, but it is not guaranteed.

[BigChiefSmokem]

That is not true. My new 2019 Mustang EcoBoost has 310hp and 350ft/lb of torque (key for acceleration) and is considered an entry-level mid-range vehicle. As recently as the early 2000s anything past 300hp was considered a race car.

Advanced software (in modern automatic transmissions for example) and material advancements have made all the difference in the advancement of combustion engines in the past 15 years and I firmly believe that technology can be pushed even further. I want to see 4 cylinder engines pushing 500hp, sounds like a pipedream now but so did 300hp when I was a kid.

If you want to see what happens when you perfect the marriage between a combustion engine and an electric motor w/ batteries, do some research on the McLaren P1.

[selectodude]

The Mercedes-Benz M133 engine already pushes almost 400hp out of a 2-liter 4 cylinder. I imagine they'll all grenade themselves before they hit 50,000 miles but I guess we'll see.

[preparedzebra]

horsepower is not fuel efficiency

[rsynnott]

Internal combustion engines are generally not used in power plants. Modern thermal plants use either gas or steam turbines. The best thermal plants currently have efficiencies approaching 65%, and there are theoretical limits; there's not too much more blood to be squeezed from that stone.

[swebs]

>However, material science could also revolutionize the efficiency of engines and make them cost competitive with solar again

I doubt it. We've passed peak oil and have resorted to expensive techniques like fracking to collect the scraps. Meanwhile, even if no advances in solar panels occur in the future, the price of power produced by solar will only go down as more panels are added to the grid.

The biggest hurdle now is getting cars with combustion engines off the road and replacing them with electric. I haven't seen much progress made on that front in the past few years.

[preparedzebra]

I think a lot of people lack imagination here. What kinds of efficiencies could we create with room temp. super conductors? This is a good read for anyone interested in this trend https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136403211...

[willismichael]

I keep imagining that somebody will invent a way to transform cheap renewable energy into some kind of fuel that can be used by existing combustion engines. If there some way to use atmospheric CO2 in the process, then it could be a zero sum game.

[jonknee]

> We've passed peak oil

That is not true