re: Have We Reached Peak Electric Vehicle Stupidity?

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energy produced in a power plant is much more efficient than in the small engine of a vehicle, no matter how much technology has improved the efficiency of these vehicles. The average coal plant about 35% efficient, with the very best ultra super critical coal plants at about 42% efficient. Even the best combined cycle natural gas plants are about 60%, which still implies that 40% of the energy obtained from the fuel used is lost in the process of producing electricity. An internal combustion engine in a car is at best 25%, efficient, with most energy simply lost as heat. In a large power plant, the possibilities of reusing that heat are obviously much greater than in the small engine of a vehicle.

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The 25% depends on where you get the information. Ev friendly sites are going to quote 25%. ICE friendly sites will quote up to 50% efficiency.

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Modern gasoline engines have a maximum thermal efficiency of more than 50%,[1] but most road legal cars are only about 20% to 40% when used to power a car.[2][3][4][5] Many engines would be capable of running at higher thermal efficiency but at the cost of higher wear and emissions

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Truth usually lies somewhere in between.