Here’s the latest reader question, along with my reply!
David asks: Has anyone every published energy economy comparisons for vehicles based on BTUs/mile? This would make it easy to compare EVs with real vehicles. PS – Your column is great! I have yet to read anything that I really disagree with. I’ve been tinkering with motor vehicles for about 70 years now. First one I remember was replacing the throw-out bearing on a 1936 Chevy 2-door sedan. This is back when the owner’s manuals gave detailed instructions on how to set the valve clearances (tappets).
My reply: EVs are being marketed in a very disingenuous manner. For example, the EPA rates them according to something called “MPGe” – Miles Per Gallon Equivalent – an inscrutable number derived via an arcane process of drawing a quasi-equivalence between MPGs (as for IC powered cars) and kilowatt-hours consumed to travel “x” distance. The MPGe figure makes the EV’s “mileage” seem stupendous in relation to an ICV car because it’s typically triple digits (e.g., “105 MPGe”).
But the MPGe figure is a poor measure of efficiency. It also doesn’t tell you much about what it costs to fuel the EV, especially since it leaves out the motor fuels taxes paid by everyone else.
One way to understand the fraud is to consider how many BTUs are contained in say 5 gallons of gas opposed to what it takes in terms of batteries to store the energy equivalent.
The resultant comparison would not make an EV look good – which is why it’s not made!
. . .
Got a question about cars, Libertarian politics – or anything else? Click on the “ask Eric” link and send ’em in!
If you like what you’ve found here please consider supporting EPautos.
We depend on you to keep the wheels turning!
Our donate button is here.
If you prefer not to use PayPal, our mailing address is:
EPautos
721 Hummingbird Lane SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079
PS: Get an EPautos magnet (pictured below) in return for a $20 or more one-time donation or a $10 or more monthly recurring donation. (Please be sure to tell us you want a sticker – and also, provide an address, so we know where to mail the thing!)
My latest eBook is also available for your favorite price – free! Click here. 
If you can’t dazzle ’em with your brilliance, baffle ’em with your bulls***.
This makes as much sense as using an NSAID that are proven killers. Vioxx, which wasn’t on the market that long(I think it’s off, maybe not)killed more people than Vietnam in less time. Tylenol kills 120,000 people every year in the US taken as prescribed.
Probably everyone here is of an age(if you’re old enough to be weaned) they need to know more about this. https://youtu.be/x0bGTAYSmyM
Don’t know what you’d have to show the ICE Bad/EV good people since it’s nothing more than cognitive dissonance.
Is the MPGe number used for the CAFE calculations?
How many miles per pound of coal or cubic foot of natural gas does an EV get ????
(including all the inefficiency loss between power plant and roadway)