alt Hacker News> 59kW/kg
At this point why don't we get rid of the k prefix and write 59W/g?
Edit:
I was half joking, but various answers mention kW being standard for motors, kg being the SI unit for mass etc. All true, but as used here in a combined unit, which means "power density" it still would make sense IMO. It's not like the "59" tells you that it's a strong motor and hence you want kW to compare it to other motors. You can't, it's just a ratio (power to weigth). W/g just reads much nicer in my head. Or we could come up with a name, like for other units. Let's call it "fainpul" (short fp) for example :)
59 fp is a new record for electric motors!
Replies
Because kg is the fundamental unit of mass and kW is typically used for electric motors.
Same reason you wouldn't use m²/s³ even though that's also technically correct.
Amusingly, given the other thread in here with people sniping each other over the metric system, I'm obliged to point out that kg, not g, is the fundamental unit of mass in SI, because even metric can't get away without some silliness.
It gives a sense of the functional size required.
Could the motor in question be shrunk down to 1kg, producing 59kW? Probably.
Could it be shrunk down to 1g? No.
kg is the SI unit for mass, I think that would be why
Comparison with other motors
Ah like the old MKBHD "screen has an aspect ratio of 18:9. Or 2:1 because I know my fractions"