thranx said:
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).
|
"Thermal efficiency, the amount of energy from combustion converted to mechanical work, is only about 26%.' (a) in a typical engine."
http://www.gaiadiscovery.com/energy-carbon-trade/energy-efficiency-of-fossil-fuel-and-electricity-powered-car.html
That's a REGULAR engine. Electric cars and hybrid cars are far more efficient in converting energy to distance.
EDIT: Scratch that, it's actually around 15%
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/transportation/consumer_tips/vehicle_energy_losses.html
