One of many musings recently has been about efficiency. Specifically EV’s compared to traditional ICE powered vehicles.
I know my EV is efficient. I also know that the internal combustion engine is quite inefficient compared to an electric motor. However, in my EV a LOT of effort has gone into converting every last drop of energy into forward motion. Special tyres, active aero flaps, flat profile wheels, adjustable ride height, flush fitting door handles etc. but what does all that mean in terms of efficiency when compared to a diesel (or petrol car) rather than just looking at boring scientific reports about thermal waste and frictionless motors.
Handily, the CarCapture fleet also has a mid-sized SUV diesel that we can compare too. (Mazda CX-3 1.5 Diesel). It’s smaller, lighter and less powerful than the I-Pace but we do have good long-term, real-world stats for it
In order to compare I need to be talking like for like, not apples and oranges. Or, in this case, not MPG vs Wh/Mile
Therefore I’m going to establish what the Diesel car does in Wh/Mile. To do that we need to know how much energy is in a Gallon of diesel.
Handily, the internet has that information.
So, if 1 litre is 10.7 kWh then 1 gallon (4.546 litres (UK)) is 48.64 kWh.
Our Mid-sized SUV does 45mpg on average which therefore equates to 1.08 kWh/mile or 1080 Wh/mile.
That was easy.
The Jag, as you will know from the First Month stats does 407 Wh/Mile.
That’s more than double the efficiency of the Diesel (2.65 in fact).
So, regardless of the source of the energy. Our EV is way more efficient than our diesel.
That got me thinking about range and energy density as well as cost per kWh for different fuels.
Those thoughts are for another day though.
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