Earlier quoted context omitted.
The big reason for this is thermodynamics. A conventional internal combustion engine car has to convert chemical energy to kinetic energy - the absolute best theoretical efficiency of this might be 70%, but in practice it's more like 30%. Electric cars have to pay the same thermodynamic penalty, but they pay it at the power station (In practice, thanks to renewables, not all the electricity used to charge a car will…
ICE converts chemical energy to mechanical energy but an electric vehicle still has to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy.
CATL has announced a new “condensed” battery with 500 Wh/kg
271–280 of 919 posts
Re: CATL has announced a new “condensed” battery with 500 Wh/kg
#272I just realized how much energy efficiency is being squeezed out of a Tesla. It's incredible. A normal diesel fueled sedan such as the Chevy Cruze diesel runs at about 31mpg, which is 13.2 km/l or 15.3 km/kg. Diesel has a mind-boggling 12700 Wh/kg energy density[1], which translates to an efficiency of ~827 Wh/km for the Chevy. By contrast, the Tesla Model S, has a ~540 kg battery[2]. At 272 Wh/kg (from the posted ar…
31mpg is not very efficient. Lots of current diesel engines in Europe are certified at 50+MPG. There's even a Car and Driver test where, with very efficient (and boring) driving you can get 70+MPG out of a Diesel Cruze... https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15341744/the-prince-of-pa...
Re: CATL has announced a new “condensed” battery with 500 Wh/kg
#273Manufacturing and innovation is inherently intervened and the West's decision to outsource manufacturing has stagnated our ability to innovate in many fields.
Re: CATL has announced a new “condensed” battery with 500 Wh/kg
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not that confusing, only the US measures fuel in gallons, isn't it? Everyone else just uses liters.
The UK may be the most confusing; fuel is sold in litres, but fuel efficiency is expressed in MPG, and furthermore the gallons aren't the same as US gallons. I guess at least the miles are the same!
Only since the 1958 International Yard and Pound Agreement tho. Before then the US used what is now known as the Survey Mile, which is why the survey mile exists (and survived until this year).
Re: CATL has announced a new “condensed” battery with 500 Wh/kg
#275Earlier quoted context omitted.
The big reason for this is thermodynamics. A conventional internal combustion engine car has to convert chemical energy to kinetic energy - the absolute best theoretical efficiency of this might be 70%, but in practice it's more like 30%. Electric cars have to pay the same thermodynamic penalty, but they pay it at the power station (In practice, thanks to renewables, not all the electricity used to charge a car will…
> the absolute best theoretical efficiency of this might be 70% I fell down a rabbit hole and found this link, which gives 46% for the theoretical limit for the efficiency of the internal combustion engine. https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/98966/maximum-th...
Re: CATL has announced a new “condensed” battery with 500 Wh/kg
#276Why does 500wh/kg make electric aircraft possible? 6x less than kerosene. Is that the break even on cost if you can source very cheap electricity? Seems like it would still annihilate the payload/range.
Well, they were already possible and being sold. But with relatively short but usable ranges. Those now more than double with this battery. Which makes those planes usable in a lot more scenarios. Consider the Eviation Alice, one of the 9 passenger prototype electrical planes that is currently undergoing test flights (i.e. it definitely works). The advertised range is 250nm. Not amazing. But far enough for a lot of r…
OTOH, security costs and airport fees could be cut I guess?
Re: CATL has announced a new “condensed” battery with 500 Wh/kg
#277Earlier quoted context omitted.
The UK may be the most confusing; fuel is sold in litres, but fuel efficiency is expressed in MPG, and furthermore the gallons aren't the same as US gallons. I guess at least the miles are the same!
I suspect the British fuel system is designed to hide the cost per mile of driving, at least tacitly. At present it's difficult to work out without some external tool.
Re: CATL has announced a new “condensed” battery with 500 Wh/kg
#278Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not that confusing, only the US measures fuel in gallons, isn't it? Everyone else just uses liters.
The UK may be the most confusing; fuel is sold in litres, but fuel efficiency is expressed in MPG, and furthermore the gallons aren't the same as US gallons. I guess at least the miles are the same!
Re: CATL has announced a new “condensed” battery with 500 Wh/kg
#279Earlier quoted context omitted.
ICE converts chemical energy to mechanical energy but an electric vehicle still has to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy.
The battery converts from chemical energy to electrical energy and the motor of the vehicle converts from electrical to mechanical energy.
Re: CATL has announced a new “condensed” battery with 500 Wh/kg
#280Earlier quoted context omitted.
The big reason for this is thermodynamics. A conventional internal combustion engine car has to convert chemical energy to kinetic energy - the absolute best theoretical efficiency of this might be 70%, but in practice it's more like 30%. Electric cars have to pay the same thermodynamic penalty, but they pay it at the power station (In practice, thanks to renewables, not all the electricity used to charge a car will…
> the absolute best theoretical efficiency of this might be 70% I fell down a rabbit hole and found this link, which gives 46% for the theoretical limit for the efficiency of the internal combustion engine. https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/98966/maximum-th...
[1]: https://engineerine.com/meet-wartsila-31-worlds-most-efficie...