GM's 230 MPG claim is total bullshit. 

Forget for the fact that the whole terminology is meaningless, as the vehicle only burns liquid fuel for a portion of its energy needs, so “miles per gallon” is an odd concept.  But one could imagine that one could look at the miles per electrical charge, and then look at the equivalent gallons of gasoline-equivalent BTU’s it took to deliver that electricity, and create an equivalent MPG.  In fact, that’s the only approach that makes any sense to me.

If so, these numbers imply that it is 10x more efficient to burn hydrocarbons in a large utility plant boiler or gas turbine, convert the combustion energy to electricity, transmit that electricity hundreds of miles, charge up a set of car batteries, and then drive an electric traction motor from the batteries than it is to burn hydrocarbons directly in an internal combustion engine in the vehicle.

If this is really the case, then I have been selling electric cars short and we will all soon be buying them (I prefer the performance of an electric engine so this kind of fuel savings is just icing on the cake).  However, I have my doubts.  While certainly a large power station is much more efficient in using all the BTU’s in a fuel than is an internal combustion engine, when one considers losses in the electrical generation and line losses, I find it very very hard to believe the difference is 10x.

But I am sure there is no conflict of interest here, and that it is pure coincidence that GM is owned by the same people who created the new methodology and did the testing, and given that the new methodology was created by the same people who have been pushing electric cars as a policy alternative.

Fucking self-fellating dipshits.  If the media wasn't on their side they'd have been ridden out on a rail by now.

P.S.:  I'm now officially the night blogger since it is the only time of day I can get any posts in.  If I try to blog from work I end up losing posts and then, as was mentioned earlier, I have to go on a three day bender. 

Also, time for some more Ask A Moron questions.  This time it should be opened up to all the bloggers since we share the title.  I'll post the e-mail in a minute.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 10:41 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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