electric vehicle

Filling up at the gas station will cost around 50 €, and loads about 450 kWh of energy into the tank. A combustion engine will convert this energy into approximately 100 kWh of mechanical energy, to be used for propulsion, on-board electronics and airconditioning. Consuming this amount of fuel emits over 150 kg of CO2.

But now, electric vehicles are entering the market with battery charges of 25 - 30 kWh. This is still about a quarter of what a combustion vehicle has available. But the performance of electric vehicles can become similar or even better, bridging the gap through regenerative braking, the different torque-speed characteristic of the electic motor, and its very high efficiency to convert electric into mechanical power. And 30 kWh of electricity requires only 75 kWh of primary energy, and emits only 15 kg of CO2. This is a factor 6 improvement in primary energy use, and even a factor 10 in CO2 emissions. At night tariff, 30 kWh of electricity will come at about 2 euro.