Comparison of the Overall Energy Efficiency for Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles and Electric Vehicles
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Abstract The tremendous growth in the transportation sector as a result of changes in our ways of transport and a rise in the level of prosperity was reflected directly by the intensification of energy needs. Thus, electric vehicles (EV) have been produced to minimise the energy consumption of conventional vehicles. Although the EV motor is more efficient than the internal combustion engine, the well to wheel (WTW) efficiency should be investigated in terms of determining the overall energy efficiency. In simple words, this study will try to answer the basic question – is the electric car really energy efficient compared with ICE-powered vehicles? This study investigates the WTW efficiency of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles ICEVs (gasoline, diesel), compressed natural gas vehicles (CNGV) and EVs. The results show that power plant efficiency has a significant consequence on WTW efficiency. The total WTW efficiency of gasoline ICEV ranges between 11–27 %, diesel ICEV ranges from 25 % to 37 % and CNGV ranges from 12 % to 22 %. The EV fed by a natural gas power plant shows the highest WTW efficiency which ranges from 13 % to 31 %. While the EV supplied by coal-fired and diesel power plants have approximately the same WTW efficiency ranging between 13 % to 27 % and 12 % to 25 %, respectively. If renewable energy is used, the losses will drop significantly and the overall efficiency for electric cars will be around 40–70% depending on the source and the location of the renewable energy systems.
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Total well-to-wheel efficiency of gasoline vehicles ranges from 11% to 27%, whereas diesel vehicles range from 25% to 37%.
“total WTW efficiency of gasoline vehicles ranges from 11% to 27%, whereas diesel vehicles range from 25% to 37% [3].”
From A Review on Electric Vehicles: Technologies and Challenges (2021) · cites this paper as [3]
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A Review on Electric Vehicles: Technologies and Challenges
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“Electric drivetrains are signi fi cantly more e ffi cient than internal combustion engines [8,9], converting a higher percentage of stored energy into motion, which translates to lower operational costs [10].”
- Authors
- Albatayneh, A., Assaf, M. N., Alterman, D., & Jaradat, M.
- Affiliations
- German Jordanian University (JO)
- Energy Engineering Department, School of Natural Resources Engineering and Management , German Jordanian University , Amman , Jordan
- University of Newcastle Australia (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Albatayneh, Aiman
- Venue
- Environmental and Climate Technologies
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2020-01-01
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 669-680
- ISSN
- 1691-5208 (ISSN-L)
- 2255-8837
- OpenAlex
- W3151080431
- Cited by
- 245
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 60 · 2024: 76 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 12
- FWCI
- 8.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- Environmental and Climate Technologies (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- NOVA (University of Newcastle Australia) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Greater South Information System
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Vehicle emissions and performance
- Keywords
- electric vehicles, internal combustion engine vehicles, compressed natural gas vehicles, power plant efficiency, energy consumption, renewable energy, gasoline vehicles, diesel vehicles, coal-fired power plants, diesel power plant
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