It's not an apples-to-apples comparison, since electric motors can't directly use chemical energy. Of the energy available to "burn", internal combustion engines harness about 20%, compared to 80% for electric. The trick is keeping the batteries "fueled"... they haven't figured out how to liquefy electricity yet :-/LikesShinyThings wrote:Internal combustion engines aren't 100% efficient, absolutely agreed. I happen to believe that they are a more efficient method of converting chemical energy to drive power than any other method developed to date. But, I don't have numbers and statistics to back that up. So I should probably stop talking before I get myself in any deeper than I already am.Dave2 wrote:Internal Combustion Engines (regardless of the fuel) are pretty inefficient.LikesShinyThings wrote:MegaWatt wrote: Yes, I make electricity but I'm a realist. Just like solar and wind power, if those electric cars were so great, Obama wouldn't have to subsidize them.
Also, electric cars are less efficient than gas/diesel. I know it isn't a perfect comparison, but here's where I'm going with this. With gas/diesel, you take the fuel and convert the energy from it directly to power the drive shaft, taking a single hit in the "conversion loss" (you won't get 100% of the potential energy converted to drive power, that's just the nature of the real world). With electric, you take the same amount (potential energy-wise) of fuel and use it to run the electricity generation plant (first conversion loss), transmit the electricity to the car (second loss, more along the lines of loss via mechanical transmission), and then take the final conversion loss taking that electricity to create drive power in the car.
I just don't see the value in electric cars. Electricity isn't free. Just like solar power isn't "free" (those solar panels didn't just appear somewhere - they took energy to be created; and last I heard they either didn't put out as much energy as was used to create them or only just broke even; then again, my knowledge is dated).
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Return to “Power outages in NE”
- Thu Jul 05, 2012 8:21 pm
- Forum: Off-Topic
- Topic: Power outages in NE
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2377
Re: Power outages in NE
- Wed Jul 04, 2012 9:02 pm
- Forum: Off-Topic
- Topic: Power outages in NE
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2377
Re: Power outages in NE
Internal Combustion Engines (regardless of the fuel) are pretty inefficient.LikesShinyThings wrote:MegaWatt wrote: Yes, I make electricity but I'm a realist. Just like solar and wind power, if those electric cars were so great, Obama wouldn't have to subsidize them.
Also, electric cars are less efficient than gas/diesel. I know it isn't a perfect comparison, but here's where I'm going with this. With gas/diesel, you take the fuel and convert the energy from it directly to power the drive shaft, taking a single hit in the "conversion loss" (you won't get 100% of the potential energy converted to drive power, that's just the nature of the real world). With electric, you take the same amount (potential energy-wise) of fuel and use it to run the electricity generation plant (first conversion loss), transmit the electricity to the car (second loss, more along the lines of loss via mechanical transmission), and then take the final conversion loss taking that electricity to create drive power in the car.
I just don't see the value in electric cars. Electricity isn't free. Just like solar power isn't "free" (those solar panels didn't just appear somewhere - they took energy to be created; and last I heard they either didn't put out as much energy as was used to create them or only just broke even; then again, my knowledge is dated).