When it comes to choosing the type of vehicle I want to drive, I like to think and compare in many different categories:

• which type of car will take me from A to B faster?
• which type will do it cheaper?
• which type is emitting less pollution?
• which requires less infrastructure changes to switch to?
• etc.

Knowing that, it’s easier to realize what’s better for me now, what’s better for me in the future and what’s better for the environment we live in.

Interesting to know that even the most efficient gasoline engines, have very limited efficiency in terms of how much energy contained in the fuel will actually be converted to mechanical by the engine. It’s only around 32%.

Medium size electric motors are up to 90% efficient. And the bigger the motor is, the more efficient it can be. [Energy Conversion Efficiency].

Electric vehicle doesn’t need transmission in many cases and regenerative braking would be impossible on a pure gasoline car. This means that electric car can save a lot of energy that would be lost in gasoline car because of: transmission and breaks.

Gasoline car also needs to run its engine while standing in traffic or at the intersections - no need to do it in electric cars.

The bigger picture, comparing well to wheel energy efficiency, is far more complicated. You need to take into consideration storage loses in the battery, electricity delivery from electric plant to where you charge your car, plant efficiency. For gasoline you need to look at fuel refinery and delivery cost.

Another important piece of the puzzle is the effect on the environment. We know that if you are burning gasoline, you are releasing greenhouse gases and other pollutants into the atmosphere.

On the other hand, there are multiple ways to produce electricity without pollution: solar, wind, ocean waves and tide, etc. Some people even talk about harvesting the energy of lightning - you just have to channel it into a big enough battery that can be charged quickly enough.