“Where does electricity come from?”
Ignore this. Seriously. Even if you say there are 100% losses - the performance of EV’s on a stored energy basis getting a car down the road is a more rational discussion. Yes, there are many electrical infrastructure and political issues around electrical generation. But still....
What IS impressive about EV’s is that they get significant range from limited stored power. A Tesla may have an 85kWh battery (an equivalent to about 2.5 gallons of gas), a Volt about 16kWh (about a half gallon of gas), a Leaf, about 24kWh - about three-quarters of a gallon of gas.
How do they do this?
Harder tires....to reduce rolling resistance - smaller profile to reduce wind resistance, and instrument feedback to encourage the driver to adopt a more efficient driving style, and instrument feedback to encourage the driver to use fewer power-hungry accessories (heat/ac). Maybe you add regenerative braking too - but that’s a driving style thing too.
If you adopted the same things in conventionally fueled vehicles, you’d end up with similar performance gains in gas mileage.
The bottom line is that if you make a smaller, lighter vehicle, lower wind and rolling resistance, you’ll get commensurate increases in range for a given power plant and fixed energy store. No matter if it is gas, diesel, electric, or whatever.
Companies don’t want to “blur the lines” between their EV’s and conventional vehicles right now. Government doesn’t encourage them to either.
The EV cars aren’t necessarily lighter. I bought a Ford Fusion Energi Hybrid/PHEV. The Energi weighs in at 3913 lbs, curb weight vs 3431 lb curb weight for a regular fusion and 3720 for a hybrid.
The batteries weigh quite a bit. The fusion is almost 500 lbs heavier than a non fuel battery version.
The Ford CMax is comparable with the EV curb weight being 3859 and hybrid being 3607.
The volt is 3786 curb weight.
The first 20 mile is a charge that costs about $0.60, still a bargain at today’s gas prices, and a phenomenal bargain when gas is twice current prices. My local power plant, just down the road, is coal-fired. I couldn’t care less. It’s cheaper.
And the EV version of the Fusion is cheaper, too. It cost $4880 more than hybrid alone, but that comes with $6507 in government money: $4007 federal tax CREDIT on my 204 taxes, and a $2500 rebate check from the Texas TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality).
I don’t agree with those tax policies, but I’m danged sure going to make my tax footprint as small as legally possible. I don’t care how big my environmental footprint is: coal is cheaper.