Robert F
2012-02-02 17:21:03
Dan,
You are forgetting that while electric motors may be 80% efficient, electric generation and transmission efficiencies are only in the range of 40%. That brings the competing technologies much closer in total efficiency. Also, most cost equations ignore the current disparity in taxes between motor fuel and electricity. Batteries may be improving, but so is internal combustion engine technology. I am not ready to dismiss the ingenuity of auto engine designers, and their ability to keep their technology competitive. On the other hand, unless battery engineers come up with an entirely new technology, there is simply not enough lithium and other rare earths to make enough batteries to topple the dominance of ICE technology.
