Re: four elements for EV acceptance - or one alternative

["PETER VANDERWAL" <peterv@peoplepc.com>]

> PETER VANDERWAL" wrote:
> > Here in the US most of the EVs are on the west coast (I would be
suprised
> > if there are more EVs on the west coast than the rest of the country
> > combined). On the west coast electricity tends to be very cheap (under
> > $0.10 / kw, sometimes as low as $0.04 / kw)  and gas is very expensive
> > (frequently over $1.50 / gal on my last trip through CA I saw it up to
> > $1.80 ).
> I choose to disagree.  To my way of thinking, gasoline is very
> cheap and electricity expensive, in relative terms.  Here's the way I
> see it.
> Using Peter's numbers, one kWh of electricity (at US$0.07 - "under
> $0.10 / kw, sometimes as low as $0.04 / kw" ) is the equivalent of
> 3,412 BTUs (per Robert & Brenda Vale in "The Autonomous
> House").  So its cost per 1,000 BTUs is about US$0.02. (7 cents /
> 3.412)

Your calculations may be correct, but since we are not heating a house they
are irrelevant.

A.  Cars don't run on BTUs.
B.  Relative efficiency is different for EVs than it is for ICEs.

To put it simply:  a typical EV goes about as far on 10kw of electricity
(from the outlet) as a similar ICE goes on 1 gallon of gas.

Arguing about potential BTUs doesn't change this relationship.  For example
how many BTUs are available on 1 sq. meter of surface area in full sunlight
at noon?  These BTUs are free but how far will they move your car?