Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexFL
Yes. All those Teslas need to be charged up and 60% of US electricity is being generated from fossil fuels.
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I hear this a lot, but it's not telling the entire story.
Even the worst coal plant is around 10% more efficient than the best ICE. Imagine if you live in a region with a lot of hydroelectric or nuclear, this is a significant boost. As we improve generation then it will swing even further. This isn't even taking into consideration the massive amount of energy it takes to refine and transport said fuel. The losses of the electric grid are negligible in comparison. For example, HVDC transmission lines will only lose around 3.5% per 1000 km. There are few things in life that become less efficient when done on a massive scale in dedicated facilities.
Even including mining of lithium (more often aqueous extraction) and not-so-rare earth metals, it is still less bad overall than fossil fuels according to the credible estimates I have seen.
Most people who haven't taken at least 1 semester of thermo in college seem to drastically underestimate how inefficient an Otto or Diesel cycle engine really is.