“The magical thinkers defending wind, solar, batteries, and EVs encounter immediate, blistering pushback from general observers who follow the pro-con arguments. ‘The EV guy’ could hardly respond to the flood of criticisms toward his half-baked arguments.”
“This is incredible!” explained “the EV Guy” Steve Hutchings on social media (April 21, 2026). He stated in “Just how wasteful is fuel?”:
Most people think about what happens inside the engine… But the real waste starts LONG before the fuel even reaches your car. To make just 1 litre of petrol:
Around 1,700-3,400 kJ (0.5-0.95 kWh) is used just to get oil out the ground. Then another 3,400-6,800 kJ (0.95-1.9 kWh) is used to refine it into usable fuel. That’s 5,100-10,200 kJ (1.4-2.8 kWh) gone before you’ve even driven a single mile. That same energy, just to make the fuel, could be used to drive an EV 6-12 miles.
Now scale that to a full tank… A 60 litre tank uses 84-168 kWh of energy just to produce the fuel. If that powered an EV instead, it would drive 336–672 miles.
And here’s the WORST part… This doesn’t include shipping it around the world, transporting it to fuel stations or pumping it into a car. All of which use even more energy. The losses involved in the transportation of oil and fuel are staggering, but that’s another post. Then once it’s in your car, it’s burned ONCE, and it’s gone. All that energy used just to burn it ONCE.
A petrol engine also only uses about 20-35% of that energy to actually move the wheels. So staggering amounts of energy are being used, just for 70% of what that energy creates to be wasted. Any other industry with these figures would be bankrupt, and it would be classed as an insane practice.
So, NEVER forget… Before a fossil car fills its tank, it’s already “spent” enough energy to drive hundreds of miles in an EV. Make it make sense.
Reader Reaction
A number of readers commented to “make it make sense.” Said one: “The amount of fossil fuel energy used to make the EV batteries will astound you.”
Explained another:
Energy density is the problem. What fits in a tea cup that can lift 1,000 pounds a 1,000 feet? Oil. Gasoline has a significantly higher energy density compared to batteries, with gasoline providing about 12,000 Wh/kg, while lithium-ion batteries typically offer around 150 Wh/kg. This means that gasoline can store much more energy per unit weight than batteries.
When gasoline that powers a vehicle 300 miles (in my vehicle less than 70 pounds) is used its weight is nothing but EV battery empty is about 1,000 pounds. 70 pounds of weight does not effect performance of an ICE vehicle but 1,000 battery is the capacity of a 1/2 ton pickup truck.
And another:
Mining of precious minerals used to make car batteries has its own environmental concerns , and mining can’t be done with EV excavators , bulldozers , heavy hauling equipment…they all use diesel and the battery technology has not yet developed for large heavy equipment…they all use EV ‘s have their place , but are NOT the answer to all vehicle uses…
Then, once a lithium EV battery goes dead, there is an environmental problem disposing of them (as well as solar panels and wind turbine blades). So, while your explanation of the cost to produce a gallon of gasoline there are also associated costs of producing EV’s….
My own comment:
Except this is all wrong when the economics is considered. Just the reverse.
Final Comment
The magical thinkers defending wind, solar, batteries, and EVs encounter immediate, blistering pushback from general observers who follow the pro-con arguments. “The EV guy” could hardly respond to the flood of criticisms toward his half-baked arguments. The Progressive Left narrative is under assault, from the White House to social media.
And then there is the electricity to charge the EV battery. In theUS about 60 % of our electricity is produced by fossil fuels with an overall thermodynamic efficiency of about 30%. I.E. about 60% of the energy used to make electricity goes up the cooling tower(s) or the smoke stack.