When a my 1980s Ford, my one friend who pays his electrical bill + has a craigslist-sourced machine shop can fix it from steel+aluminum stock, and also teach me how to fix it myself.
When something with power electronics breaks, my option is to buy new power electronics from a big company or trash it. My many friends with PhD/industry EE experience are unable to fix it nor tell me how to fix it with simple tools.
The complexity of the latter therefore seems greater in he colloquial sense than the complexity of the former.
With your 1980's ford, you outsource all off the complexity to a local shop. You're enjoying 100+ years of investment in internal combustion engines. In the future, with wide-scale adoption of EV's, local shops will respond to market demand. We're in early phases. The Model T was launched in 1908. In 2121, I think it's a strong possibility you'll be able to get your 2080's Ford serviced at a local shop.
A 1901 electric car has batteries in glass jars and plates of iron and nickel, speed control of just carbon and copper, easy to make with a vice, hacksaw, and file.
Let's not be comparing obsolete technology to modern.
When something with power electronics breaks, my option is to buy new power electronics from a big company or trash it. My many friends with PhD/industry EE experience are unable to fix it nor tell me how to fix it with simple tools.
The complexity of the latter therefore seems greater in he colloquial sense than the complexity of the former.