Comment by cosmic_cheese
1 month ago
I don't think many people really understand how awful automobile-scale internal combustion engines are at efficiency. The only reason they work at all is thanks to the absurd energy density of the fuels they burn.
8.9 kWh / litre of petrol [1]
But more than 60% of that is lost as heat. The inefficiency increases in colder temperatures.
[1] _ https://natural-resources.canada.ca/energy-efficiency/transp...