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There Are 100 Computers Hiding in Your Car Right Now (You’re Riding a Data Center on Wheels)
(www.carsandhorsepower.com)
this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2026
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Technology
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Not mine. My car was built in 1999. Going to drive it until they stopped offering fuel at gas stations and then just transplant a electric drivetrain.
My car has a cassette tape and no Bluetooth.
Well there's still like 2 or 3 computers on it most likely if you go by the definition of computer automotive journalists like to use.
PCM for sure, but could also have TCM if auto, ABS if equipped might have a computer, potentially some kind of BCM...
When they say a modern car has 100 computers, most of those are actually fairly simple controllers and the reason there are so many is that you can just route canbus and power to them and then run the necessary wires to the sensors and actuators from the modules instead of running a bunch of wires from one single controller to everything. Keeps the harness simpler and lighter.
My own 20 year old car has 26 "computers". 4 of them are door controllers that just actuate windows, locks and mirrors.
Thats right. The word "computer" in this article can mean anything with a microcontroller in it. Any car built after 1996 legally must have an OBD port, so it has a diagnostic computer at least. All cars with fuel injectors have an engine computer. All cars with air bags will have a computer that controls when they go off. Even some cars with cruise control in the 90s had a cruise computer that monitors and controls the speed.
I don't know what my point is, just that I agree, having lots of microcontrollers in your car is not necessarily bad thing, they provide many facets of basic functionality and don't collect your data. And journalists like sensational headlines and fear mongering.
You're gonna save so much money not buying new cars, that your idea won't be crazy. I like it.
Spending a lot of money on gas isn't saving money.
While I can afford a newer car, I can't bring myself to spend 700usd just to drive a new car when my old car is still running. Even if my entire engine explodes, a new engine replacement is like 5k, it's still worth it. Maybe one day my engine won't be available but for now, I'm happy with not paying a car payment.
He'd still come out ahead by driving his old car and then electrifying it when he can afford it. It'd beat taking on a new car loan or lease.
Let's say you drive 10k miles per year and you're getting 20mpg that's 500gal of fuel per year. If gas is $5/ gal that's $2500 per year. Let's say I can get a car that gets 40 miles per gallon. Over ten years I'm saving $12k so I'd need to spend less than $12k on a car in order to save money. Idk what the cost of electric is over the cost of gas but I know that I can't get an electric car for less than $12k that isn't going to need an expensive battery replacement in the near future.