Re: Electric Car efficiency - was Elec Car Report 10/21

["R. Beasley" <gmbeasley@MINDSPRING.COM>]

On Fri, 31 Oct 1997 11:00:07 -0500, you wrote:

>Grandma Rosalie said:
>>We have two 1984/1985 Escorts.  One is diesel and gets 50 mpg.
>>We are currently paying about $1.20/gal here for good quality
>diesel.   That's about 2.5 cents/mille I think.
>
>This is really quite amazing. Is it perhaps the peak mpg (checked once, =
on a
>trip), rather than the average? Or do you routinely write down the =
mileage and
>amount of fuel to fill the tank?

My husband and I both  ALWAYS write down elapsed mileage and # of
gallons and determine the mpg EACH time we get fuel.  Have been
doing it for many years.  I have a little book for the Mercedes
which goes back to 1994 when I bought it with all the mpg for
each fill-up in it.  My husband puts sticky notes on the Escort
dash and keeps running totals.  So  the 50 mpg is for all
driving, not just trips.  It is the reason that he didn't convert
that vehicle to electric even though that is what he bought it
for.

>>The electric car costs about 80 cents a day for a 16 mile RT commute
>>which is about 5 cents a mile.
>
>At 10 cents per KWH, that's 500 watt-hours per mile; very low =
efficiency. It
>implies for instance, 120v at 250amps to do 60 mph. Is your EV really =
this
>bad? How are you determining this? Have you checked things like tire =
pressure,
>wheel alignment, driving style, etc.

It takes 10 KWH (or KW?) for a 25 mile round trip.  Well,
actually, that's what it takes to bring it up to full charge, and
when it gets back it is down to anywhere between 40% and 80% of
full charge depending on the weather.  I have assumed that the
recharging is like filling a tank up - that no more will go in
than was taken out.(?)

We don't have a separate meter for charging BG&E (Baltimore Gas &
Electric) wouldn't give us one (although  I think that if we
lived a few miles farther south PEPCO or VEPCO would do so), so
we determined the amount of electricity by writing down the
electric meter reading during charging, and at the same time of
day while not charging.

I can't comment on your figures, as I am an electricity dummy,
and don't know what you are talking about.  80 cents is the
amount for a 25 mile round trip.  We also can't tell exactly what
our electric rate is.  We've asked, but they give a lot of
gobbledygook as an answer.

I am sure however, that the diesel Escort is much more economical
to drive than the electric car is.
=20
grandma Rosalie

Re: Electric Car efficiency - was Elec Car Report 10/21                      R