Two points: the 28kWh is the total capacity of the battery, but they not use all of it (same as any EV battery), because if they did, the life of the battery would be greatly reduced. I do not know exactly how Nissan designed theirs, but typically, they charge it up to ~80% and discharge it down to ~20%, so the actual yield is ~16.8kWh.

Second point is that there is some loss in the charger, and again I do not know the specifics. So, it might take 18-20kWh to charge it?

Sincerely, Neil

Approximarion of CO2 released from a coal fired generating plant.

Coal top grade about 14,000 BTU/lb.

1w. = 3.413BTU

1kw – 3413 BTU

Coal fired generating plants run at about 30% efficiency.

1 lb coal gives 1.3kw

1 kwhr – .8 lb or 363 gm. of coal

12 units of coal burnt release 44 units of CO2 (C=12 O=16)

1 kwhr = 2.93 lb or 1.33kg of CO2.

CO2 released from mining, processing, and transportation, not included.

Transforming and transporting the electricity also involves losses, so much so that the actual current stored in a lead battery could represent 50% or less of the power generated, or twice the CO2 pollution given above.

The Leaf seems to have a lot going for it such as range, comfort, dual voltage charging ( I already have 220v in my gararge for a welder) and conservative styling. Most of my driving is less than 120km/day and Toronto is implamenting charging stations with new government funding to encourage EVs.

Interesting that many of our northern communities have had parking with 15A 110v recepticles for many years that are used for block heaters in the winter months.

Acceleration and top speed are a bit excessive for Ontario, as we have a $10,000 racing fine for 50km over the limit. Hopefully the car has seat belts, air bags and the other safety requirements for Canadian roads.

It will be interesting to see how the batteries preform in cold weather as much of our country has periods of -10C to -30C each winter. The car would also lose range for the heater and defrost system.

A modern gigawat coal plant ( Schwartzapumpe E. Germany) burns about 2 million kg. of coal per hour or 2kg of coal per kw. so if the Leaf goes about 6km. per kw. you are burnig a kg of coal for every 3 km. or releasing over 3 kg. of CO2 . Thats about 1 kg CO2 per km. The gas equilivant burns 1 l. in 20 km. Assuming the gas is all carbon and weighs 1kg it releases about 3kg of CO2 in 20 km or 150g per km. Sort of makes a Hummer look good.

These are only ball park numbers, and I hope there is an error in them, as I only just did the calculations, but it seems that burning a fossel fuel in a power plant, converting it to steam and then electricity, transforming it several times during transportation and then charging batteries to power an automobile just isn’t very efficient.
No I’m not on the payroll of any energy company, it’s just the laws of thermodynamics.

Maybe we should go back to steam cars. I think the Stanley Steamer, circa 1920′s, did better than 1km/kg. coal.

EV’s only become green with power from renewable sources and this is harder to implament in N. America due to the political influence of Oil, Coal and Nuclear concerns.

It’s not just about cost — it is about transitioning to alternative energy sources, and electricity is by far the most flexible in this regard. Petroleum is heavily subsidized and so the real cost is much higher (think sweetheart leasing deals and fighting wars over oil, for starters!). Another thing to add in is the maintenance cost of running an ICE — oil changes etc. add up. With an EV, you only really have tires and brakes for regular maintenance.

I’m also a little surprised at your numbers — the Aptera travels 100-120 miles on a charge, and depending on the cost of electricity, that is typically $1 (though here in NE it might be as high as $2) — so that is $0.01-0.02 per MILE. The Aptera 2e battery pack is 17-23kWh (we do not know precisely, yet), and the Leaf has a 28kWh battery, so even if we call it $3 a charge, that costs just $0.03/MILE; or $0.0186/km.

I think you are being too pessimistic on the battery replacement — some Prius batteries have gone 400-500K miles, and since most EV’s are quite conservative in their charge and discharge levels, there is a pretty good chance that the batteries will last as long as the vehicle. The materials from the battery can and will be recycled.

Since electric motors are so efficient (92-95% is what I have often heard!) it makes even coal generated electricity produce less carbon than burning fossil fuel. Yes, certainly we need to start to get more and more of our power from renewable sources — but we can also conserve way more power than we can use up with EV’s any time soon. California uses ~50% as much electricity per person than the rest of the country, so if we all can start to conserve even close to that, then we are going to be getting our transportation “for free”.

In Germany last month gas was about $2/l but electricity is about $0.35/kwh. so there is no saving at all. Their math may work in Japan with expensive gas and cheap electricity, less than 4 cents/hr. but it won’t hold up for much of the world.

Then the battery pack needs replacement $10,000 or the car scrapped in as little as 6 years.

As for Greenness, much N. American power comes from burning dirty coal and dirty gas so the improved enviornmental effects will realy be minimal.

I’m not against it, just pointing out a few things that need to be considered.
PS
My Segway goes 20km for lesst han 10 cents and my electric bike even better if I peddle some.