Context: I sell cars and currently have a Nissan Leaf. A customer had asked if I knew why it had 121city/91highway MPG listed if it was a fully electric vehicle. This confused me too and it’s apparently a common thing? Thanks.
In: 7
I’m glad you asked this question, I didn’t know there was a rating, and this is super interesting to me. I had no idea that EVs were that much more efficient at converting energy, and had assumed that the benefits were something of a wash if their supporting powergrid was using coal or petroleum to generate the electricity to charge the car.
Doing a little research, it looks like the range of efficiency is 120 MPGe for a Tesla Model 3 (the best), and 68 MPGe for a Ford F-150 Lightning (the worst).
That tells me that the absolute worst electron guzzlers are still better than the absolute best internal combustion vehicles (Hundai Ioniq at 59 MPG for 2022).
Obviously there are additional environmental concerns with the original manufacture of electric vehicles, especially in coal burning countries like China, but if your electric grid is backed up by wind, solar, or hydro, this seems like a cowabunga slam-dunk.
Am I forgetting something, like power lost in transmission through a grid?
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