The 2018 Corolla has a combined driving cycle fuel consumption of 7.6 liters/100 km [1]. 7.6 liters of gasoline contains [2] 7.6 * 34.2 = 260 megajoules of prim

The 2018 Corolla has a combined driving cycle fuel consumption of 7.6 liters/100 km [1]. 7.6 liters of gasoline contains [2] 7.6 * 34.2 = 260 megajoules of primary energy. The standard Tesla Model 3 has a combined driving cycle electricity consumption of 16 kilowatt hours per 100 km [3]. 1 kWh is 3.6 megajoules, so it consumes 57.6 megajoules over 100 km. The Model 3 consumes 22% as much energy to travel the same distance as the Corolla. It's true that there are upstream energy losses before the BEV battery is charged up. About 5% [4] of generated electricity is lost to transmission and distribution in the United States. But there are also upstream energy losses before fuel goes into the Corolla's tank. The refining process that turns crude oil into motor fuel loses about 7% of primary energy along the way [5]. "Together the 96 EU mainstream refineries consume nearly 50 Mtoe total energy per year, which is equivalent to about 7% of their crude oil intake. This means that 93% of the energy content of the crude oil processed by the refinery is ultimately available in the refined products." [1] https://www.guideautoweb.com/en/makes/toyota/corolla/2018/specifications/ce-man/ https://www.guideautoweb.com/en/makes/toyota/corolla/2018/sp... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_3 [4] https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=105&t=3 https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=105&t=3 [5] https://www.concawe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/rpt_12-03-2012-01520-01-e.pdf https://www.concawe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/rpt_12-03-...