Erni's Electrifying Tricks: Efficiency – Let's Do It Right!

Mr. and Mrs. Zündel have been playing squash for many years with a group of 10 people. Their new electric car is currently the hottest topic being discussed by the group. Recently, a friend tried to convince them that vehicles powered by e-fuels or hydrogen were equally good alternatives.

Mrs. Zündel smirked: "Technology neutrality is the lovely term used in politics." She brought up a topic to the group that, judging by the looks, very few had considered so far: the efficiency of propulsion systems.

Mr. Zündel, who had intensively studied the matter, explained calmly:

"Well, it is important to understand that electric cars are overall more efficient than vehicles with combustion engines, whether they run on e-fuels or traditional gasoline."

His wife added: "This is because electric cars have a much higher efficiency. While combustion engines can only convert about 20 - 30% of the energy used into movement, electric cars can reach an efficiency of up to 90%." Electric vehicles can thus convert more energy into driving performance and lose less energy in the form of waste heat.

This waste heat is generated in every conversion process. In electric cars, this only occurs during the charging and discharging of the vehicle. In the case of e-fuels, energy is already lost during production - in the conversion of hydrogen and CO2 into fuel - and then again during combustion. Thus, less energy remains for driving performance, given the same initial amount of energy. Mrs. Zündel adds:

"The amount of energy produced is thus almost losslessly converted into driving performance in an electric car. The use of the produced electricity is therefore more efficient."

What does this mean?

Energy use is the keyword here and an important aspect to consider in the discussion if we do not want to endlessly increase electricity production in the future, as much more energy is needed for e-fuels and hydrogen – for the same benefit.