Been thinking about a conversion of the human kind and not an ev conversion today.
42 min. in Carlos Strauss points out - People care about MPG not kWh
My friend Ofri sent me a link to a video wherein an expert panel discusses the future of electric cars. During the question and answer period, about 42 minutes in, Carlos Strauss made a very important point: People don’t care about “electric” or “kWh”. They want to drive a car that gets 200 mpg.
John Barton over at Montana EV Conversion recently posted a 2006 white paper published by Tesla Motors where they spell out the “Well to Wheel” energy usage for every type of personal automobile. It is informative but very technical.
What I have heard from EV enthusiasts so far reminds me of early computer animation. Only high level programmers could make a computer generated ball bounce across the screen back in the 80s. Yawn. Then along comes Luxo Jr. in 1986. Suddenly lamps and a ball had a personalities. The computer part of the animation receded into the background. People suspended disbelief and became emotionally invested in the story.
It’s the MPGs stupid. Not many cared about the lines of code it took to bring a lamp to life. Not many people gave a second thought to Carlos Strauss’s “Electric” sticker on his car. Lots of people showed interest in his “100 mpg” sticker though. When does the U.S. become emotionally invested an electric car? It begins when they hear a compelling story in a language they understand.
200 mpg | 3¢ per mile | 100% U.S. fuel
Americans see this and know the car is efficient, inexpensive to run and good for the country.
Now that I have your attention, let’s do the math:
- Tesla Roadster gets 2.53 km/MJ (kilometers per megajoule)
- 87 octane gasoline has 32.0 MJ/l (megajoules per liter)
- 2.53 km/MJ * 32.0 MJ/l = 80.96 km/l
- 80.96 km/l = 190.4 mpg
Keep in mind that the Tesla Roadster has a range of 200 miles. The Tesla Motors white paper postulates if the EV1 had used Lithium Ion batteries instead of the heavy and inefficient lead acid batteries it would have a range of 250 miles. What would be the mpg rating for a Lithium Ion – EV1? I’m not sure but I’d bet it would be over 200 mpg.
After I posted this I realized that my conversion assumes 100% efficiency of the Tesla Roadster’s motor. Let’s say it’s 80% efficient. That would result in 150 mpg. Still very good.
Once I get my conversion finalized, I’m going to figure out its efficiency and its mpg equivalent and plaster that sticker on the outside of the car.