Fully Charged discussion with Rory Reid

In this weeks episode of Fully Charged Robert Llewellyn goes for a drive with Rory Reid from cnet uk in a Nissan Leaf.

Rory, who wrote a blog post called '10 reasons electric cars still suck', takes the 'con' side of the debate while Robert, as you would expect, takes 'pro'.

Most of the arguments against EVs are usually from those who lack an understanding of the basics.

Naysayers need to comprehend this: The battery pack in a Nissan Leaf holds the energy equivalent of just 0.65 US Gallon of gasoline. There isn't a car in the world that has a fuel tank even close to being that small.

On that small amount of energy, approx 2.5 liters worth of petrol, The Nissan Leaf is able to travel 100 miles (160 kms) at highway speeds.

The Nissan Versa, the ICE version of the Leaf, has an EPA rated combined fuel consumption of 30 MPG (US fleet average is 21.5 MPG). If it had the fuel tank capacity equivalent to a Leaf it's range would be less than 20 miles.

The 2010 Nissan Versa, in fact, has a 13.2 gallon fuel tank. To store the electricity equivalent of 13.2 Gallons of Gasoline in the Leaf would require a 483 kWh battery (it has a 24 kWh battery).

The Versa consumes 20x as much energy to cover just over three times (approx 365 miles) the range of the Leaf. On the energy equivalent of 13 Gallons of Gasoline the Leaf could travel over 2,400 miles (3,864 km) @ 200 wh/mi.

Anyone who would argue that ICE powered cars, that use 6 - 10x as much energy to do the same work, are a better option for an energy efficient future is simply ignorant of the facts &/or is just being belligerent.