Basic understanding about Why an EV is more green using a well to wheel analysis
- 1) AIM
- To study the well to the wheel energy consumption of an EV with an ICE based vehicle of the same OEM and establish that EV is more green in nature ( four-wheeler segment)
- 2) Theory and definition of terms used
- A well-to-wheels (WTW) analysis of a vehicle/fuel system covers all stages of the fuel cycle, from energy feedstock recovery (well) to energy delivery at the vehicle’s wheels.
-
- The calorific value of a fuel is the quantity of heat produced by its combustion – at constant pressure and under “normal” (standard) conditions (i.e. to 0oC and under a pressure of 1,013 bar).
- An electric vehicle can never be called a zero-emission vehicle as the power to charge an EV can come from burning of fossil fuel especially in india. Below is an image that justifies the claim
-
- 3) Methodology
- The vehicles used for comparison are TATA NEXON(ICE) and TATA NEXON EV.
TATA NEXON(ICE) TATA NEXON EV 
Range = 17 Km/L Range=300 Km/Charge Petrol calorific value = 9528 Wh/L Battery power=30200 Wh Average energy consumed at wheel : Tank to wheel
Petrol calorific value/Range=560.47 Wh/KmAverage energy consumed at wheel : Tank to wheel
=Battery power/range=100.66 Wh/Km
Refinement and transportation of fuel=67% Charging and discharging efficiency= 80%
Average energy with production and transmission losses
= well to wheel
=Average energy with wheel/efficiency
= 836.52 Wh/Km
Average Energy with Battery losses=Averageenergy/Efficiency = 125.83Wh/km
Production and transmission efficiency of electricity=30%
Average energy at wheel considering all efficiencies
Well to wheel = 419.44 Wh/km
- 4) Observation
- The emission is not just restricted to tail pipe but also on how the power is derived to run a vehicle. But it can be said that EV are more eco and energy-friendly.
- 5) References
- https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6d689f36-417c-4eb5-82d8-6a0a699c571f
- https://powermin.nic.in/en/content/power-sector-glance-all-india
- Primary research through linked in connections have been done to carry out the study