Shocking Factoid of the Day: Gas cars use more electricity to go 100 miles than Electric Cars do! [View all]

[grahamhgreen]

"There is no exact calculation for how much electricity it takes to drill, transport and refine a gallon of gasoline, but the accepted amount is around 8 kWh. So, for 8 kWh, you can go around 22 miles (using the U.S. average; we know you can go over twice that if you drive a Toyota Prius). That means that a gasoline car uses just under 40 kWh to go 100 miles. An EV, on the other hand, uses around 30 kWh to go 100 miles " (from: http://www.green.autoblog.com/2011/10/14/how-gas-cars-use-more-electricity-to-go-100-miles-than-evs-do/)

Photo taken at the LEAF booth at an auto-show:



From the DOE:

"Subject: Energy to refine gasoline

Dear Mr. Armstrong,

Thank you for your December 4, 2009, electronic mail requesting a reputable source to calculate the energy required to refine a gallon of gasoline. The energy required to refine a gallon of gasoline can be estimated based on the energy content of crude oil and the refinery efficiency of the facility performing the energy conversion; I can provide you a reputable source for both values.

In a 2008 report, Argonne National Lab estimated that the efficiency for producing gasoline of an “average” U.S. petroleum refinery is between 84% and 88% (Wang, 2008), and Oak Ridge National Lab reports that the net energy content of oil is approximately 132,000 Btu per gallon (Davis, 2009). It is commonly known that a barrel of crude oil generate approximately 45 gallons of refined product (refer to NAS, 2009, Table 3-4 for a publication stating so). Thus, using an 85% refinery efficiency and the aforementioned conversion factors, it can be estimated that about 21,000 Btu—the equivalent of 6 kWh—of energy are lost per gallon of gasoline refined:" MORE: http://gatewayev.org/how-much-electricity-is-used-refine-a-gallon-of-gasoline

So, every time we buy a gallon of gas, it seems we are not only paying for what it would cost for us to drive an EV 30 miles, but are paying a huge premium on top of that for oil company profits. Additionally, we pay with increased cancer rates, pollution, and endless wars for oil. Further, I think it's safe to assume that it will take EVEN MORE electricity to refine the shale oil for the Keystone pipeline. It's really time to end this farce. Build a bunch of wind, solar and other unlimited energy plants, and win our future like a civilized country!