By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
HappySqurriel said:
thranx said:


As far as i know 25-30% of energy is lost when burning fuels to convert to electricty (in power plants, closer to 40-50% for home generators) and than even more when transferring that energy to where it is used. How much energy is lost when burning gas for kinectic energy?


When you look at what companies are doing with modern engine and transmission designs, plug-in electric cars don't come close to the efficiency of a gasoline based automobile ... The combination of inefficiencies in distribution of electricity and charging of batteries eliminates all theoritical gains from centralized power generation; and the only reasons it is less expensive to power an electric car than a gasonline car is the electric car has less power, gasoline (tends to be) heavily taxed, and electricity is (often) subsidized.

thats what i thought. I just couldn't find any info on it. I have recently done a lot of research into home solar and wind power and basically all the numbers i ran showed it as far to expensive(especially since i was trying to lower my bill).