High MPG

[steve ravet]

Gary Derian wrote:

> Electric is not very efficient if you consider the total scheme.  The
> electric generators are no more efficient than the good old ICE (40%).  Then
> you add the power loss in transmission, converting to chemical energy for
> the battery, then reconverting to electric, then finally getting mechanical
> energy from the motor.  Add this up and the electric car is only 5%
> efficient.  A GM EV1 with a gasoline engine would get 80+ mpg.

Electric cars have transmission loss, but so do gas cars.  You have to
burn diesel fuel to ship all that fuel around.

Here's my question:  The GM EV web page (www.gmev.com) claims a full
charge in 3 hours using a 220V (6.6kW) charger.  That's 19.8 kilowatt
hours of energy.  They claim a maximum capacity of 16.2 KWh for the
battery pack, so 19.8 includes charger inefficiencies.  If electricity
costs 10 cents per KWh, it costs just under $2 to charge the EV-1.  They
claim the range to be 50-90 miles, which puts the cost per mile between
2 and 4 cents.  Just the gas for a gas car costs more than that, plus
all the maintenance like tuneups, fluid changes, etc.  The electric car
is simplicity by comparison.

--steve

> 
> Gary Derian <gderian at cybergate.net>

--
Steve Ravet
International Meta Systems
http://www.imes.com
steve at imes.com