Which method of fueling your car is likely to be more energy...

Which method of fueling your car is likely to be more energy efficient, and why: gasoline used in a standard car engine or electricity taken from a coal-fueled generating plant and stored in lightweight car batteries? Assume that the batteries convert electricity to work at $100 \%$ efficiency.

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Key Concepts

Energy Conversion Efficiency

This concept refers to the proportion of primary energy that is successfully converted into useful work in any process. In the context of vehicles, it involves considering the losses that occur at each stage of the energy conversion chain – from the extraction and processing of fuel or raw energy, through its transportation and conversion in a power plant, to its final use in moving a car.

Well-to-Wheel Analysis

This is a method used to evaluate the total energy efficiency of a fuel or energy system, by accounting for every step from the source of the energy (the 'well') to its final application in the vehicle's drivetrain (the 'wheel'). It highlights how different pathways, such as combustion of gasoline versus generation of electricity from coal, compare in terms of overall energy losses and efficiency.

Thermodynamic Efficiency

Thermodynamic efficiency looks at the maximum attainable efficiency given the limitations imposed by the laws of thermodynamics. In the case of internal combustion engines, this concept explains why such engines are inherently limited in converting heat energy from fuel into work, compared to electrical systems which, under ideal conditions, can have higher conversion rates when other losses are minimized.

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