this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
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I like to think of it as "better than".
They're not perfect, but they're better than what people might do instead.
I could swap my older car for a second hand EV, which would be an environmental improvement.
The current car does 50-ish MPG, about 1.5 miles per KWH. An electric would do 4+miles per KWH, which going in reverse is 100+MPG.
A bigger improvement might come from me getting the bus/train/bike everywhere, which is where the fuck cars argument comes from.
But I am disorganised, a bit lazy, and I don't want to shepherd 4 people onto the train, paying ยฃ150 to go 100 miles.
So for me, slightly better is better than no improvement at all.
The energy used can be green, depending on what the national grid is up to that day. But it's always more green than burning dinosaurs.
And the reduction in brake dust is always a nice plus.
Holy cow, why don't people drive in reverse all the time?
/s
Because you have to go forward before you can go backward.
/s
What kind of 80s shitbox are you driving that gets 50 MPG? Are you using Imperial gallons or driving a hybrid?
I'll have you know it's a noughties shitbox. 999cc engine, 4 seats, and can just about fit 2.4m lengths of wood in if I'm careful.
And yes, imperial gallons (I had to do some maths, as the figures for MPG>M/KWh use american customary)
My aunt had one off these way back, don't try and climb any big hills but could go around for a while on a pint of gas.
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/geo-metro
Sounds like the heydey of the Geo Metro, which got astonishing MPG for its time.
How does one convert MPG to KWh? Electricity generation takes numerous forms with notably different efficiencies converting input to output...
Yeah, it should be miles-per-kilowatt-hour, or kilowatt-hours / litres per hundred kilometers, like most of the world uses it.
I kinda agree, lots of different formats in every direction, lots of dividing 1 by numbers to compare things.
One site lists Wh/mi, another Mi/KWh, manufacturer site only lists the range based on speed.
Then comparing it to figures for countries using metric distance, customary sized gallons for ICE, and L/100KM...It gets fiddly to make direct comparisons!
On the efficiency of generation, I guess it's open to the reader to apply their own modifier.
I'd be aiming to charge the car using private solar as much as possible which would drive it down.
National Grid emissions in the UK last year were about 217g/KWh on average. Even using grid the whole time, the emissions would be easily halved for me.
Edit: There is a suitably lengthy wikipedia page on MPGe. Having skimmed it, MPGe doesn't take into account upstream efficiency. While well-to-wheel gives a clearer picture, I can understand why for a simple metric MPGe does not. Especially since the primary function will be users gauging cost, and the electricity source should gradually improve over time.