Just how energy efficient are EVs? VERY.

[SuperRob]

Just saw a video from Transport Evolved, and they threw out a data point that I had to go back and re-watch because I was astounded: A single gallon of gasoline carries the equivalent of 33.7kWh of energy. That means the Mustang Mach-E is ‘only‘ carrying the equivalent of 2-3 gallons of gas at the most.

I knew that ICE vehicles had a lot of losses, but wow. My previous car had a 16 gal. tank … if I had that much battery, I could drive this thing down the west coast without charging! Hopefully we see some major improvements in energy storage and density so that the huge advantages of EVs.

A bit of trivia for you. I thought my electricity was cheap (in Washington, so we’re mostly hydroelectric). But based on that math, maybe it isn’t. 33.7kwh times my electricity cost (10.4 cents per kWh) ends up at $3.50 per gallon. So the cost savings is generally because the Mach-E isn’t carrying that much energy compared to an ICE car. it may be more or less expensive where you are, of course.

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[SnBGC]

Just saw a video from Transport Evolved, and they threw out a data point that I had to go back and re-watch because I was astounded: A single gallon of gasoline carries the equivalent of 33.7kWh of energy. That means the Mustang Mach-E is ‘only‘ carrying the equivalent of 2-3 gallons of gas at the most.

I knew that ICE vehicles had a lot of losses, but wow. My previous car had a 16 gal. tank … if I had that much battery, I could drive this thing down the west coast without charging! Hopefully we see some major improvements in energy storage and density so that the huge advantages of EVs.

A bit of trivia for you. I thought my electricity was cheap (in Washington, so we’re mostly hydroelectric). But based on that math, maybe it isn’t. 33.7kwh times my electricity cost (10.4 cents per kWh) ends up at $3.50 per gallon. So the cost savings is generally because the Mach-E isn’t carrying that much energy compared to an ICE car. it may be more or less expensive where you are, of course.

A very relevant comparison is the 2017 Ford Focus vs 2017 Ford Focus Electric. (Which happens to have a 33.5kWh battery pack). The gas version can travel 28 miles on a gallon of gas while the electric version can travel 120 miles for that same amount of energy. So a EV is a little more than 4 times as efficient as a gasoline vehicle (all else being equal of course).

Yeah, eye opening though. So what happens with all that energy wasted by the ICE vehicle? It gets converted to waste heat that has to be managed as well as the nasty by product of emissions from the unburnt elements.

 

[Vulnox]

Also an interesting highlight for how much energy you get from gasoline for much lower weight over batteries. So once we can improve that energy density on batteries it will change a lot of things, not just cars. Hopefully some of those advances aren't far off. As it stands I am fine with the distance we get out of an MME or equivalent. Maybe would be nice if it was 400 miles in warm weather, 330 or so in cold, but the key thing is that recharge time. If we could get to gas station equivalent fill ups then there are no excuses.

 

[rcechinel]

Also an interesting highlight for how much energy you get from gasoline for much lower weight over batteries. So once we can improve that energy density on batteries it will change a lot of things, not just cars. Hopefully some of those advances aren't far off. As it stands I am fine with the distance we get out of an MME or equivalent. Maybe would be nice if it was 400 miles in warm weather, 330 or so in cold, but the key thing is that recharge time. If we could get to gas station equivalent fill ups then there are no excuses.

That's what the whole world wants.

 

[SnBGC]

Since we are talking about efficiency...
This is a very interesting video about EV tires vs standard designs.

 

[Mach1E]

Just saw a video from Transport Evolved, and they threw out a data point that I had to go back and re-watch because I was astounded: A single gallon of gasoline carries the equivalent of 33.7kWh of energy. That means the Mustang Mach-E is ‘only‘ carrying the equivalent of 2-3 gallons of gas at the most.

I knew that ICE vehicles had a lot of losses, but wow. My previous car had a 16 gal. tank … if I had that much battery, I could drive this thing down the west coast without charging! Hopefully we see some major improvements in energy storage and density so that the huge advantages of EVs.

A bit of trivia for you. I thought my electricity was cheap (in Washington, so we’re mostly hydroelectric). But based on that math, maybe it isn’t. 33.7kwh times my electricity cost (10.4 cents per kWh) ends up at $3.50 per gallon. So the cost savings is generally because the Mach-E isn’t carrying that much energy compared to an ICE car. it may be more or less expensive where you are, of course.

Depends on what you mean by efficiency.

Energy efficient? Yes. Not a lot of waste

Cost efficient? Depends. Depends on how you get your energy. Depends on the purchase price.

Weight efficient? Absolutely not.

100 kw battery gets you about the range of 10 gallons of gas. Gas is 6 lbs per gallon. So 60 lbs of fuel vs 1200 lbs?

It’s why battery planes and boats are a long long long way off. My 23’ boat holds 100 gallons of fuel (600 lbs) with a 300 mile range. If I tried to get 1000 kw of batteries (12,000 lbs), my boat would sink.

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