Electricity generation and distribution is nearly as inefficient as a passenger car and mostly coal-fired to boot. Plug-in hybrids don't help the big picture unless they're also part of some kind of distribution efficiency improvement.
Are you accounting for the fact that electric motors are vastly more efficient than rotary engines? I'd assumed that plug-ins couldn't make sense (third law still hates you) until it was pointed out to me that an electric motor at the wheel is about four times as efficient as a gasoline engine, in terms of energy-converted-to-torque-at-the-wheel.
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momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2009-09-10 05:45 pm (UTC)Are you accounting for the fact that electric motors are vastly more efficient than rotary engines? I'd assumed that plug-ins couldn't make sense (third law still hates you) until it was pointed out to me that an electric motor at the wheel is about four times as efficient as a gasoline engine, in terms of energy-converted-to-torque-at-the-wheel.