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To: redfreedom
"Isn’t it more efficient to take a refined petroleum energy, such as gasoline, and burn it directly in a gasoline engine to produce power as opposed to taking a petroleum based energy, burn it in a electrical generating plant, then transfer it to a battery, then use it to run an electric motor?"

In a word, no. Conversion efficiency in a central power station is on the order of 45%. Conversion efficiency of a gasoline engine is on the order of 20%. Yes, there are losses down the electricity conversion train, but they are nowhere near the direct losses in IC.

35 posted on 12/10/2018 5:34:47 PM PST by Wonder Warthog (The Hog of Steel and NRA Life Member)
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To: Wonder Warthog

The efficiency of a chain of conversions of energy is the product of each of the efficiencies multiplied by the other (reliability is the same).

It would only take one component of 51.1% or less, if the battery, inverter and motor were 100% efficient (and they aren’t).

Also, the modern i.c. engine is a bit better than 20% nowadays, even the gas ones. Diesel turbos are around 35% efficiency. Gas engines achieve that at full throttle nowdays as well (with turbocharging). At partial throttle operation, efficiency does drop for gas motors, but with direct injection and well designed pistons, you can get close to diesel using “conventional” piston engine design.

Go to technologies like HCCI, and you can sit pretty close to a diesel in most conditions, and better!


49 posted on 12/11/2018 12:40:29 AM PST by Aqua225 (Realist)
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