How much energy can the battery pack store compared to gasoline?
If I use a pack of seventeen 8-Volt Golf cart batteries, which are made for deep duty cycle use, I’ll have a pack voltage of 136V. Each battery is capable of delivering a constant 56 Amperes for 117 minutes. (The car will draw higher current, which will reduce the actual time, but for purposes of calculating stored energy I’ll use this number.) The theoretical stored energy in Watt-hours is 136V * 56A * 117 minutes / (60 minutes per hour) = 14,850 Wh, or 14.85 kWh. A gallon of gas contains about 36 kWh of stored energy, so the EV carries the stored energy contained in less than 1/2 gallon of gas. It should be apparent from this that Internal Combustion Engines waste a LOT of energy – mostly as heat.
