🚀 go-pugleaf

Ernst G. Knolle (knolle@crl.com) wrote:

Past report claims EV is more fuel efficient

In 1988 the Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. published a
paper (0148-7191/88/0711-1168) by Floyd A. Wyczalek (FAW)
about Japanese electric vehicles (EVs) including the Toyota EV20,
EVERA E32, EVERA E42, Nissan March EV II and Suzuki Alto
CA71V. The report includes an energy use comparison with
gasoline powered cars claiming that electric cars "are from 1.6 to
3.6 times more efficient". 

With numbers crunched properly, the opposite is true 

When I looked over FAW's paper I discovered several major
mistakes. (Let's ignore the minor ones, even though they also add
up).  First big mistake was that he used a fuel to electric conversion 
factor of 34 kWh/gallon, which is what one achieves with lots of
patience and a few grams of alcohol in a physics lab. But in high
capacity electric power plants, the real world gets only about 10
kWh/gallon. Second big mistake, the Japanese EVs are essentially
all converted gasoline powered cars with their back seats taken out
to make room for batteries that weigh as much as 800 lbs. FAW
then has compared 2-seat EVs with 4-seat gasoline powered cars,
and finally the third big mistake, the EVs were tested in Japan by
driving them at a steady pace of 25 miles per hour while the fuel
consumption of the gasoline powered cars was taken from US EPA
simulated stop-and-go city driving tests.

Neither Japan nor GM can change the laws of physics 
 
More recently in the USA, we saw GM publicize two new cars, 
a 4-passenger gasoline powered car  named 'Ultralite'
which gets about 100 miles per gallon, and a 2-passenger EV
named 'Impact' of which the energy use is about 140 watt-hours
per mile, about the same as the Japanese EVs. I did a similar
examination of rationale and numbers and came up with the same 
conclusion and that is, if one properly bases the comparison on
equal size and performance, an EV uses about three times as much
energy, at about five times the cost, as gasoline powered cars.

If your EV salesman didn't tell you this, sue for fraud

In California, we have consumer protection laws that provide for
imprisonment, fines and compensation if someone sells you
something without telling you all-inclusive the full true facts. If you
bought an EV without being told of its colossal energy waste and 
cost,  I suggest you exercise your rights.