Cars - Efficiency of Electric vs. Gas (Revised 11/09/120

Cars are very inefficient – they wast three-quarters of the energy provided by the burning of gasoline. In turn, gasoline is a very expensive fuel. Natural gas and electricity provide the same amount of energy at about one-tenth the cost of gasoline (even before the gasoline tax is factored in).

While the electric car has problems with range and infrastructure, it certainly is an energy saver. It only uses about one-fourth of the energy of the gasoline-powered car, since electric engines are much more efficient than gasoline ones. Even when the energy used to produce the electricity is taken into account, the electric car is about thirty percent more efficient.

The electric car is also less expensive to fuel. Exact numbers are difficult to state since dealer's price varies and the price of both gasoline and electricity are difficult to predict over long periods of time. Using manufacturer's suggested retail price and current costs of gas and electricity in Central Ohio the $7,000 price difference will be made up in about 80,000 miles.



SOURCE: Data for Nissan Leaf SV and Nissan Altima 3.5 SL.