4 ms·

The car engine has to fit a weight and size limit that means most of the heat is wasted instead of harnessed. Power plants can capture 60% of the heat energy.

The car engine has to fit a weight and size limit that means most of the heat is wasted instead of harnessed. Power plants can capture 60% of the heat energy. http://needtoknow.nas.edu/energy/energy-sources/fossil-fuels/natural-gas/ http://needtoknow.nas.edu/energy/energy-sources/fossil-fuels... Conventional cars capture 12-30% of the energy in the fuel. https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/evtech.shtml#:~:text=Energy%20efficient.&text=Conventional%20gasoline%20vehicles%20only%20convert,to%20power%20at%20the%20wheels https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/evtech.shtml#:~:text=Energy%.... The difference is big enough that the analysis is easy.

orwin 5y ago
You're absolutelly right, just a small caveat for the 60% figure: most well-maintained plants capture between 35% and 40% of heat energy. Peakers can reach 35% too. Pulsed coal and new gas tech can get to 50-60% in ideal conditions. Also, most of these techs are new and are available on recently-build plants. That 60% could be as low as 45%. Still at least twice as effective as ICEs. However, a 2-tons electric car compared to a 800kg ICE? without taking into consideration the wear on infrastructure and on singular parts of the vehicle, i still think you are in comparable zone.