Is MPGe an evil unit? Why or why not?

[VolkerP]

In case the cost of kWh is zero, as with supercharging, you run into trouble converting miles/kWh into miles/$. Denominator zero.
Since the final designation of every vehicle is to cover miles, you can avoid this trouble by putting the distance in the denominator.

And when stopped in traffic idling, I saw mpg switch to gallons/h in an ICE. No news here.

 

[dhrivnak]

Mind sharing? Does it include the operational aspect only; or also the capital expenses? Sorry for going offtopic.

I uploaded my document with supporting links to my dropbox public area http://dl.dropbox.com/u/94320747/GAS_VS_Electric2.docx. Last year I got pulled into a grant the City was applying for and they needed a PE to certify the the energy savings of a Leaf versus a "ICE" car. So while for a Leaf it would be easy to modify for any car. I also uploaded my spreadsheet if you want to quickly run for another pair of cars.

I only compared the refining and burning of gasoline to the EPA KWH/100 miles. I thought I should include gasoline refining as electricity is delivered to the house in a form I can use. So I did not include the extraction and transportation of oil or the mining/transportation of coal. I hope they are equavalent but as I looked into it both are HIGHLY variable and there are no good averages published.

 

[brianman]

The problem with a $/mile or €/km metric is that it isn't constant--by geography or time. In places like California, two neighbors may have different $/mile because of the tiered rate classes.

So rate it like a water heater in your house. "Based on XYZ index of commodity pricing, this water heater will cost you ___ annually."