The abbreviation of MPGe stands for “miles per gallon of gasoline-equivalent”. Which offers a large cost savings over traditional cars due to the fact that electricity is much cheaper than gasoline, making it more economical to recharge or ‘refuel’ in petrol head terms.
How is MPGe determined?
MPGe was established as an energy efficient metric by The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2010. The sole goal being to relate the amount of energy expended by alternative fuel vehicles to that of more traditional cars.
However, a solid comparison isn’t always possible between the MPGe and MPG due to the variation in costs between alternative fuel vehicles and internal combustion engines. This results in EPA assuming prices that reflect the national averages.
Cost Saving For Electric Cars
Electric cars efficient use of energy is a contributor to their low cost of driving. Since most of the internal combustion engines operate at a less than 40% thermal efficiency, which means that less than 40% of the energy in each gallon of gasoline is used to turn the wheels while the rest is wasted in the form of heat.
This in comparison to electric motors which provide upwards of 90% efficiency with the majority of the electricity on board going to the wheels, with very little being lost as heat.