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Originally Posted by apeweek
You have to remember that fossil fuel burns much more efficiently at a big powerplant than it does in a little auto engine.
Then it's just a matter of multiplying out the efficiency numbers I provided. Greater efficiency means less energy is needed to move a vehicle the same distance, and therefore less pollution is generated. We will compare efficiencies as they relate to the production of pollution:
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Efficiency of an internal combustion vehicle:
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Efficiency of gasoline:
-After electricity used for refining: ~90%
-Reduction in efficiency for transportation costs: average about 20 cents/gallon,
from ratio of this to cost of gas, about ~92%
-Efficiency of internal combustion engine: ~25%
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Result: ~20.7% efficient (Today we won't even consider the losses in the vehicle's transmission, which an EV doesn't need.)
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Efficiency of an electric vehicle:
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-Approximate combined fossil fuel efficiency of various power sources on the electric grid:
50% from coal and oil at 37% -- 8% from natural gas at 48% -- 42% from from nuclear/hydro/wind/ at 100% (100 because no fossil fuel used)= average 64%
-Efficiency of electric power transmission grid: ~95%
-Efficiency of battery power input and output: ~88%
-Efficiency of electric traction motor: ~93%
-Efficiency adjustment for energy reclaimed from regenerative braking: ~ 110% (increase result upward by 10 %)
Result: ~55% efficient
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That's at least 2.7 times more efficient, with a corresponding reduction in pollution. I'm being conservative here. The EV advantage is almost certainly greater than this.
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Assuming your figures are correct, they do make a good argument for this conversion. However, as I've already stated, until we learn to generate electricity from another source, I believe making this transition to electric powered automobiles is premature. Another factor to consider is the cost of manufacturing these vehicles. At the present, it's still too expensive. And that doesn't take maintenance into the equation either. At best, I think it's a toss-up, too many unanswered questions like, what are we going to do with the pollution caused from the disposal of these spent batteries and the nasty stuff contained within them?..........Just my two cents........................Infy
