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Old 01-24-2021, 02:40 PM   #20
FlyingScot
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trout View Post
The only thing in that article that helps the environment is the fact electric vehicles do not need oil changes. Regenitive brake captures energy that has all been expended instead of wasting it to heat (brakes) but this comes at a cost of efficiency. The truth is most of our electric energy comes from fossil fuels. There are many losses get the energy to your home. Also batteries are only about 85% efficient. I am not sure of the exact numbers but the fact this is never mentioned tells me it may not be worth it at this time except if alternate energy is being used.
You're speculating reasonably, but with no numbers or research. The point of the article is that we need to measure the carbon emitted per mile for each type of generation. Electricity from a fossil fuel power plant is less carbon intensive that gasoline burning in your car, as measured by researchers from MIT. It's silly to assert they did not account for battery efficiency--those numbers are baked into EPA eMPG estimates.

There is nothing wasteful or inefficient about regenerative braking compared to regular brakes. In both situations we lose exactly the same amount of energy already generated by the motor. But with regenerative braking, that energy gets returned to the battery for future use instead of burnt up by the brake pads.
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