You also need to account for the transmission line efficiency[1], the charger efficiency (typically 90-95%), and battery efficiency[2] (80-90%). If we assume t

You also need to account for the transmission line efficiency[1], the charger efficiency (typically 90-95%), and battery efficiency[2] (80-90%). If we assume the transmission lines are 98% efficient, the charger is 95% efficient and the battery is 90% efficient, the motor controller is 95% efficient, and the motor is 95% efficient (drive efficiency of 90% instead of 80% of the parent quote)... 0.33 * 0.98 * 0.95 * 0.90 * 0.95 * 0.95 = 25% efficient, with efficiency numbers somewhere between "best case" and "optimistic". ICE in an efficient car is competitive with that. A hybrid will beat that. [0] How Stuff Works estimate: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/fuel-cell4.htm http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fu... [1] Nobody knows for sure what the transmission line (including step-up and step-down transformers) is in actual practice. Note the Wikipedia article says "efficiency" several times, but never pins an estimate onto it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery