Comments on: Are electric powered cars really more energy efficient than gas powered cars?

By: Electric Car Conversion

Electric Car Conversion — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 22:20:40 +0000

Electric Car Conversion…

Smart Regulators For Car Alternators | Green-Trust.Org is what this page is all about? I searched for Electric Car Conversion on Saturday and came across it Thanks for a very insighful post! This site has similar subjects about Smart Regulators For …

By: Terrence D

Terrence D — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:58:53 +0000

yes electric cars have come a long way with new capasitor boards and power inverters it is quite astounding how far thet have come and you don’t have to charge them up either
look in future cars

By: A.V.R.

A.V.R. — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:54:27 +0000

Not yet really. While the electric motor is more efficient as such, the dynamics (It is mostly statics in Bangalore) of city driving with frequent non regenerative braking reduces this. In addition lead acid batteries themselves have a delivery efficiency. Multiply this with thee transmission efficiency and the power station efficiency. You may come close to the best IC engine efficiencies.
Still, we cannot ignore the electric car. the other areas will improve. But the answer may lie in a fuel cell that can use hydrcarbon fuel itself, instead of hydrogen.

By: keyway51

keyway51 — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:54:28 +0000

battery electric cars are more efficient, would be better for all the short drives made daily. the battery technology has improved dramatically. these are true green vehicles. check out the site below.

By: Elana

Elana — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 10:22:40 +0000

The bigger the power generating station, the more efficient it is.

Gasoline engines are very small (and light) because they have to be mobile.

So the question is this: Does the enormous efficiency of an electrical power generating plant make up for the transportation of that electricity to your battery and the inevitable power loss in storage.

If you’re generating your power locally with solar or wind, then its a win all-around.

By: fred

fred — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:22:24 +0000

Yes electric cars are realy more efficent
not only in terms of basic energy conversion as others have said (large constantly monitored & maintained generators way outperform average car engine that rarely runs at optimum load or temparature & require expensivly/inefficiently refined fuels)

but also electric cars require fewer complicated materials to make and lower lifetime maintenance – no exaust or coolant system, no clutch or complicated transmission, no oil changes, easy to recycle parts.
maximum torque from 0rpm from cold, little energy wasted in noise or heat.
energy delivered direct to your parking space at home or work by a 90% efficient grid.

and battery electric vehicles can improve the efficeincy of the grid, especially for renewable energy, by distributed storage (a battery with 200mile capacity, that only does 20 miles a day has a lot of unused power that can be sold back when demand is high)

electric is just a much more pleasent & enjoyable driving experience anyway, what’s not to like?
and can be fun too, see

By: Glenn B

Glenn B — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:42:47 +0000

The same car with the same weight will take the same energy, to move it. Where electric cars have the huge advantage is that a large percentage (> 75%) of the energy used to accelerate the vehicle can be recovered using regenerative braking.

The thermal efficiency of most coal fired boiler is in the range 34-37%

“In a typical low compression engine, the thermal efficiency is only about 26%. In a highly modified engine, such as a race engine, the thermal efficiency is about 34%. ” (Note these figures are for steady loads at designed power ratings)
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Bear in mind that coal fired power stations also output power at a relatively steady load and are constantly trimmed for maximum efficiency.(rarely if ever idling). A gas engine is rarely on a steady load. When highway cruising, it is only at a fraction of it’s designed power output.

Yes.
Even allowing for 10-15% loses and ignoring regenerative braking, electricity is more efficient than most gas engines.

It is harder to store the electrical energy though. Which is why gas cars have much more range.

Many “well to wheel” studies have been done. They usually confirm this. ( possible exception of some oil company sponsored studies)

By: funnysam2006

funnysam2006 — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:54:54 +0000

Electric cars are more efficient in their fuel usage compared to gasoline cars. An electric motor is about 80-90% efficient where as a ICE car engine is about 20-30% efficient.

Drilling and making of Petrol diesel required electricity too so for those who say electric cares use electricity and gas cars dont are wrong.

So if you fill in 10 litres of petrol in your gas car 7 litres just get waste as heat and only 3 litres gets used to move your car around, those figures should make things pretty obvious.

If electric cars are charged by Solar power their operating cost and pollution footprint will be much lesser.

By: Susan M

Susan M — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:50:39 +0000

Since most electricity is generated by coal fired plants, I couldn’t say. Mining coal or drilling oil. Moving oil or coal, pipelines or trains. I wish that we had nice clean options for personal transportation, besides bikes.

By: dhrita

dhrita — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:41:27 +0000

Power plants are much more efficient than gasoline engines. Gas turbine power plants can be up to 55% efficient compared to about 30% for gasoline engines. the efficiency of power plants can be even higher if the waste heat they generate is also used ( co-generating plants). Environmentally friendly sources of power such as windmills, hydroelectricity can also be used. Even if the gasoline engine and electric generation were of the same efficiency, the electric car does not use energy when it is waiting at traffic lights etc. It also can recover energy when it slows down. In the long run as the weight of the batteries gets lower there will be even more savings as the car gets lighter.