Miles Per Gallon Gasoline Equivalent - Background - 2000: Petroleum-equivalent Fuel Economy

2000: Petroleum-equivalent Fuel Economy

During the late 1990s and early 2000s several electric cars were produced in limited quantities as a result of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) mandate for more fuel-efficient zero-emissions vehicles. Popular models available in California included the General Motors EV1 and the Toyota RAV4 EV. The US DoE and EPA rating for on board energy efficiency for these electric vehicles was expressed as kilowatt-hour/mile (KWh/mi), the most commonly known metric in science and engineering for measuring energy consumption, and used as the billing unit for energy delivered to consumers by electric utilities.

In order to address the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations mandated by the US Congress in 1975, the U.S. Department of Energy established in July 2000 a methodology for calculating the petroleum-equivalent fuel economy of electric vehicles on a well-to-wheel basis. The methodology considers the upstream efficiency of the processes involved in the two fuel cycles, including efficiency factors for petroleum refining and distribution, as well as the national average efficiency for electricity generation and transmission. The formula also includes a fuel efficiency incentive factor of 1/0.15 to benefit electric vehicles. This reward factor is intended provide an incentive for vehicle manufactures to produce and sell electric vehicles, as a higher equivalent fuel economy for EVs improves the carmaker overall fleet fuel economy levels in complying with the CAFE standards, and Congress anticipated that such an incentive would help accelerate the commercialization of electric vehicles. The incentive factor chosen by DoE for EVs is the same 1/0.15 factor already applied in the regulatory treatment of other types of alternative fuel vehicles. When all factors are considered in DoE's formula, the energy efficiency or equivalent fuel economy of electric vehicles increases from 33,705 Wh/gallon (plug-to-wheel) to 82,049 Wh/gallon (well-to-wheel).