I knew that powerplants were very ineffiecient as well as ICE’s. So it’s just staggering how much energy is wasted from the source until it reaches the tires to make our cars move.

True, but making electricity at a power plant loses 70% of the fuel energy burned to begin with, either out the smokestack or the cooling towers. At the wheels, the enery driving your wheels is only 25% of the original fuel energy. You can find this on the Department of Energy website. The government doesn’t emphasize it because it isn’t “consistent” with admistration policy.

IC engines also convert about 25% of a fuel’s energy to propulsion, depending on driving conditions.

sean t: It is pretty incredible when you examine the thermodynamics of the energy going from the power plant to the car’s wheels. Most people are aware of the huge losses in IC engines, but don’t know that electrical generation/consumption is no better.

I am an experienced automotive enegineer, and even I was surprised!

Actually, the efficiency of converting the heat from a fuel into propulsion is almost identical whether you do it in the car (with an IC engine) or at a power plant (with a boiler and steam turbine).

Do you really think so?

If your commute is 60 or 80 miles a 100 mile range EV might not be your best considering that a 100 mile EV isn’t going to give you 100 miles. More like 70-80 miles.

Without subsidies, tax credits and rebates EV’s are an epensive proposition and will not pay the owner back for many years.

But don’t get me wrong. I think EV’s will eventually be more inexpensive, have a longer range and quicker charge times.

Actually, the efficiency of converting the heat from a fuel into propulsion is almost identical whether you do it in the car (with an IC engine) or at a power plant (with a boiler and steam turbine).

You don’t save energy with EV’s.

“Ford said that they would throw a couple of solar panels in their EV to offset the cost of electricity”

Nothing wrong with solar panels on the roof, but their energy supplied doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. It might reduce your plug-in charging energy by a couple of percent, and may never pay back the cost of the panels.

The best use of solar panels is to run a fan to blow the hot air out of the car on hot days. Then you don’t need air-conditioning as much, you’re more comfortable, and wou don’t kill your range by running A/C.

EVs are currently an early adapter product. It is relatively expensive and the technology has a lot of room for improvement. By buying these products now the government is trying to help this product along to go from an early adapter product to a more mature mass market product. This is a goal that will benefit America as a whole and justifies making a purchase decision that is not necessarily the most optimal from a cost perspective when you look at it as just a vehicle purchase.

I had a solar company stop by my house last month. My house was in the okay to good range, not by any stretch of the imagination great unless I was willing to cut down a whole bunch of trees (which I am not).

Nonetheless, with my okay to good rating for solar, it would still meet all of my electricity needs and then some. I could get an EV, hook it into my solar grid and go all renewable. I’m tired of reading about how EV’s are worse for the environment then gas guzzlers. It does not have to be. As a side note, it was an estimated 5-7 pay back on my potential solar investment.

Aside from getting my own solar system if the upfront cash is an issue, I can opt to have my electric company (NStar) provide me with either 50% or 100% of my electricity from a wind farm. Again, I am off coal. Granted, I need to pay the electric company a small fee to have my electricity come from the wind farm, but again, it can be done.

And while I’m here, where is the Mazda5 hybrid?