LogFAQs > #967236175

CarefreeDude posted...

however, I wonder, does the power plant process those fossil fuels more effectively than a gas powered vehicle?

Yes. Almost without exception (which I say only because I don't know enough to commit to saying there are no exceptions). Burning gasoline in a power plant to generate electricity and use that electricity to power an electric car is substantially more efficient than burning that gas directly in an ICE car, even taking into account transmission losses. I think it's might even be better to use an ordinary, consumer-grade gas generator to run an electric car than to burn that gas in an ICE, but I don't think it's quite that bad (consumer-grade generators being a lot worse for waste heat).

If nothing else, consider why cars have radiators: You're producing a lot of heat energy that needs to be taken out of system because you have no way to turn it into kinetic energy. All of that is wasted. Steam turbines are specifically designed to capture all heat energy produced from burning a fuel, and while 100% efficiency isn't possible, they can get pretty close to turning all of the chemical energy in the fuel into electrical energy. That means they waste very little.

CarefreeDude posted...

Also not everywhere uses fossil fuels for electricity. Where I live most of our electric is hydroelectric power.

That's the other big thing. A fossil fuel grid powering an electric car can eventually become a renewable grid. An ICE car, however, will always have to burn fossil fuels to run. Even if they weren't already more efficient at using fossil fuels, electric cars would still be a greener long-term choice because they have the potential to improve.

Now, that said, while switching to electric cars is generally better for the environment than sticking with ICE's, they aren't without their issues. Being heavier means more damage to roads and danger to other road users, there are considerable environmental concerns around battery production and end-of-life handling... they also don't solve the fundamental infrastructure problems that reliance on cars create because they're still just cars. Increased adoption of electric cars over ICE's is good, but effective long-term planning needs to have the goal of getting most cars off the road altogether.