how much energy is wasted driving a petrol car

[MikeNovack]

It is really hard to judge new technologies. What supporting technologies do they need (to be really useful) and could that be gotten around if existing technology thought of in a different way*. Even more basic, what is some new technology good for? (might be something quite different that what developed for**)

Thus I do not want to be accused of being anti EV because I suggest for distance travel little gas or diesel travel trailers (also providing some extra luggage capacity -- likely wanted on trips). Those would be an efficient solution, not zero FF but very little.

* In 1900 the internal combustion vehicles had the outstanding missing technology problem of needing transmissions which did not yet exist. Electric vehicles had a range problem because of lack of places to recharge (I don't mean no charging stations, I mean no electrical service outside a few city centers). IF looked at differently, gas-electric or diesel-electric would have solved both problems. Electric vehicle combined with a gas or diesel motor-generator. Actually, the first use of THAT was 1903 in ships.

** The classic example of this was the now ubiquitous photo-copier. XEROX invented the device with the intention of replacing carbon paper. In other words, better copying of OUTGOING business correspondence. They arranged with a business to take one for a six month engineering trial (we now would call "beta test"). When the engineers came back six months later to take the machine for wear study, the business put up a fuss "You can't take that from us. We can't get our work done without it."People in that office had discovered that it could be used to make multiple copies of INCOMING correspondence. At the time there was no way to do that except retyping incoming (and using carbon paper)