As it has been brought to my attention that my numbers were lazy garbage (sorry folks, I reeeeeeally didn't want to do any research, but now I've embarrassed myself). Updates:
I said 'Line losses' when I should have said 'Distribution losses', still 50% (line losses range from 5-20%)
20% combustion efficiency for a car is a much better estimate.
70% engine efficiency for an EV car is a much better estimate (I can't get a good handle on this number, but it looks like it's around 50-70%)
33% is a better guess for coal plant efficiency.
Combustion efficiency, EV = (Coal Plant combustion efficiency)*(Distribution losses)*(engine efficiency)
Combustion efficiency, EV = (33%)*(50%)*(70%) = 11.55%
Which is still well below the combustion engine (same 2:1 ratio as my original calcs, my half-assing skills are next level).
Quote:
Originally Posted by zamler
It's calculated by how much energy it takes to move the vehicle a certain distance. It's pretty easy to see that the 4-5x efficiency of the electric is true, it costs $7-10 to fully charge a Tesla and you can drive 270 miles. In most vehicles that would cost you $50. Not a perfect comparison by any stretch because we are going only on energy cost but it tracks fairly closely.
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Earlier, I worked out the cost of fuel being nearly equivalent, but if we are then comparing the car engine at 20% and the Tesla engine at 50-70%, then the Tesla does come out as significantly more cost effective despite being much worse for emissions.