Pat Dollard

It is time we learned that the “Green” movement is simply the “Red” movement reconfigured. They are against energy that works because energy that works enables freedom, capitalism, and empowers the individual. This threatens them. Every Green solution is a fraud that sucks money out of the system so that it will collapse and they can take over. Many use more energy than they produce.
Electric cars are expensive, never break even economically, and pollute worse than gasolene powered cars. If they ever became popular, they would be opposed by the Green Movement. Like windmills of Nantuckett; they are only acceptable if they are theoretical.

If we start with the knowledge there is x amount of energy in a barrel of oil and then follow it down the path to the refinery then to the electrical power station we see that energy go through a number of transformations. Basic physics tells us that energy can not be created or destroyed …. so each transformation simply converts the energy from one form to another …and at each transformation there are inevitable losses.

First is conversion from chemical to heat to boil water in the powerplant. Then from heat (steam) to mechanical in the generator. Then from mechanical to electrical in the generator. The electrical travels over power lines with inherent losses to various substations and finally to your home.

At each stop along the way some of that energy is lost as it passes through transformers. Finally at your home the electrical energy is converted into chemical energy in the electric car’s battery. That chemical energy is reconverted into electrical energy to drive the motor (converting it to mechanical energy).

If you were to tally the losses along the way you would find that the overall efficiency of the process from crude oil to electric car total a significant portion of the original input. Even if each conversion is 90 percent efficient .9 x .9 x.9 x .9 = 65% efficient after just four conversions. I count 6 conversions the above description not counting line loss transporting the energy across country.

The truth of electric cars is that they simply move the source of pollution away from the consumer .. a manifestation of the “not in my back yard” mentality.

A well tuned Otto-cycle motor (that’s a gasoline internal combustion engine) or a Diesel engine can be as or more efficient than the electric car when the above inefficiencies are considered.