this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2025
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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 121 points 1 month ago (7 children)

Lol:

The new YASA axial flux motor weighs just 28 pounds, or about the same as a small dog.

However, it delivers a jaw-dropping 750 kilowatts of power, which is the equivalent of 1,005 horsepower.

I feel like we'd need peak horsepower output of a small dog to truly understand this.

[–] DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works 65 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If it's a Corgi, I would estimate the power output at .1 horsepower max. But if it's a small dog the size of a large dog, then that's something entirely different.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] spizzat2@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 month ago

Well, editor is cost money, too.

[–] DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Just so we're clear, you do not get any of my profits.

[–] thefactremains@lemmy.world 29 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

A dog's power output comes from its muscle mass, which for a healthy dog is about 45% of its total body weight. This gives our 28-pound dog roughly 12.57 lbs (or 5.7 kg) of muscle.

Studies of animal muscle show that the peak power output of vertebrate muscle tissue during a short, explosive burst (like a jump or the start of a sprint) is around 100 to 200 watts per kilogram of muscle.

Now we can estimate the dog's peak power:

  • Low estimate: 5.7 kg of muscle x 100 W/kg = 570 watts
  • High estimate: 5.7 kg of muscle x 200 W/kg = 1140 watts

Converting these figures to horsepower (1 horsepower = 746 watts):

  • Low estimate: 570 W / 746 ≈ 0.76 horsepower
  • High estimate: 1140 W / 746 ≈ 1.5 horsepower

So, a small 28-pound dog might be able to generate a peak power of around 0.75 to 1.5 horsepower for a very brief moment.

So this YASA motor is somewhere between 670 and 1,340 times more powerful than the dog it's being compared to in weight. That's some jaw-dropping power output.

[–] officermike@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I tried to sanity-test the math here running the same calculations on a 700 kg horse, of which around 50% mass is muscle.

700 kg x 50% = 350 kg

Low:

350 kg x 100 W/kg = 35,000 W

35,000 W / 746 ≈ 47 hp

High:

350 kg x 200 W/kg = 70,000 W

70,000 W / 746 ≈ 94 hp

Despite what the term "horsepower" would seem to suggest, a horse can actually output more than one horsepower. Estimates put peak output of a horse around 12-15 hp. By those numbers, even the low end estimate above is around 3-4x too high. We're gonna need more dogs.

[–] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

We're gonna need more dogs.

I accept your terms.

[–] Windex007@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I appreciate the sanity check, but just to throw a monkey wrench into your model...

I think the square-cube law will bite you here. I expect power/mass isn't constant. Mass grows faster than cross-sectional area which is key in muscle performance.

[–] officermike@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] FaeriesWearBoots@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 month ago

Might be my favorite thread today. Thank you, polite and nerdy strangers.

[–] QBertReynolds@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Horsepower was originally used to describe the work that a horse could do over the course of an hour. Specifically, the number of times an hour a horse could turn a mill wheel at a brewery. These are estimates of peak power, not sustained power, so I would say that it's accurate that horses can produce significantly more than one horsepower in short bursts.

[–] postnataldrip@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

I'm guessing that would be if every muscle was being used for propulsion at any given time. You'd need to allow for heart and lungs, as well as face, neck, tail muscles that don't contribute to power output, plus legs don't provide continuous power as they need to make a return trip.

If we really wanted to optimise a dog for power:weight there are quite a few systems we could do away with. But it would likely result in a less floofy doggo, so it's obviously not an option.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 19 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)
[–] ceenote@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Americans will use ANYTHING to avoid metric.

[–] cecilkorik@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What if we compromise on fractional thousandths of a kilodog?

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

1/1000 of a kilodog is just a dog bro

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

I took it more as a dig at Americans honestly...

The second line is KW hours compared to HP.

And the English still use pounds for weight and stuff pretty regularly.

So pounds and KW hours for them.

Small dogs and HP for Americans.

[–] ObviouslyNotBanana@piefed.world 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

or about the same as a small dog.

Americans will use anything but the metric system

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Small imperial dog, US dogs are different.

[–] ObviouslyNotBanana@piefed.world 2 points 1 month ago

British imperial or US customary?

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

You can talk horsepower and dogpower all day, but I won't really understand until you convert it to bananapower, for scale.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 1 points 1 month ago

Something something anything but metric...

[–] ShotDonkey@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

For all non Brits: 1 dogpower = 1005 horsepower It's an imperial unit. You're welcome.