alt Hacker News> internal combustion is hilariously inefficient
It's inefficient but not hilariously so. Modern ICE are quite amazing technology.
Combined gas turbines (you know, the energy source that powers your electric car) are about 60% efficient for the really good ones, minus 5-7% transmission losses, minus 10-12% charging losses, minus 20% loss in cold climates, lands you at around 35-40% efficiency from fuel source to the wheel.
The Atkinson-cycle engine in the Toyota Prius gets around 40% give or take some losses in the drivetrain. Electric have plenty of upsides, but for some people with cheap gas+high electric costs+cold climate you would honestly be better driving a hybrid.
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This is something that always gets lost in these conversations.
Whenever you do the real world calculation for what an electric cars CO2 profile looks like it turns out to be the same as a gasoline car unless your country is majority nuclear.
> Combined gas turbines (you know, the energy source that powers your electric car)
Not everywhere. My car charges off an average of 80% renewables (mostly hydro and geothermal), right now it's 95%.
But it is definitely something you need to take in to account when purchasing, an EV isn't right for everyone.