[RobertSmalls]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Energy carried in the vehicle used per distance traveled -- is the best way to compare the energy used by a vehicle to move from A to B.

Incorrect. Energy used BECAUSE OF moving the vehicle from A to B is the correct metric.

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

My plug-in electric lawn mower uses the equivalent of ~0.9 teaspoon of gasoline PER HOUR. Find me a more efficient powered lawn mower? (It uses about 0.38kWh in an hour of heavy use -- this is 12/1000 of a gallon of gasoline.)

I mow my lawn with 0.04KWh. :-D Gas lawn mowers are terribly wasteful appliances, and I wish more people would get rid of theirs.

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Because, if you insist on adding the carbon used to produce electricity, then the electricity used to extract, move, refine, move again, etc -- all of the carbon in that electricity, gets counted in that gasoline. Ditto for all the natural gas used to produce gasoline.

I have accounted for this in my analysis.

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

The second thing is, what if I put solar panels on my roof and/or put up a wind turbine, to generate/offset the electricity used in my electric car? Can you do the same thing with an ICE powered car?

When the Leaf arrives, you will be able to buy an off-the-shelf sustainable transportation solution consisting of EV and rooftop PV. How much will that cost? People thought a Leaf by itself was expensive. Add in tens of thousands more to power the thing in a carbon-neutral manner. If nobody can afford it, what's the point?

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

So, the bottom line is, that electric cars are more than 1.5X more efficient, and even if you include the source-to-wheels FOR BOTH, the electric cars are much more efficient.

I have a car with unlimited range that you could buy for $4000. It gets 250Wh/mi(e) at the wall, or ~200Wh/mi(e) at the battery. It is therefore much more efficient than the EV1, despite the fact that the EV1 has a better body.

EVs are worth building today because some day, petroleum will be too precious to burn. But don't make the mistake of calling them low-carbon or even more efficient than a hybrid or diesel. They're not, unless combined with low-carbon electric generation.