(01-18-2022, 04:42 PM)jeffster Wrote: Gas will provide consistent power regardless of load, while electric will suck more energy the harder it works.
That's not really any different. Gas engines consume more gas under load (hence driving faster consuming more gas), electric motors will consumer more power under load. Both motors are rated on peak output, not fuel consumption.
(01-18-2022, 04:42 PM)jeffster Wrote: My math: 4 litres gives you 40 km, and is 35.6 kilowatts of energy, while a typical EV would use 6.8 kilowatts for 40 km, making it over 5x as efficient.
The ~5x as efficient is correct. It's why even if you charge your EV from fossil fuel sources you're likely still having a significant positive environmental impact compared to a gas car. Even a 75kWh Tesla battery doesn't hold nearly as much energy as a tank of gas, but the range is comparable because the Tesla is 90%+ efficient at turning the electrical energy into kinetic energy.
However, motors are generally rated on their output power, not consumed energy. A 200hp gas car is 200hp (149kW) of peak energy delivered to the drive shaft, not 149kW peak of gasoline consumed. For an electric snow blower the two numbers are likely very close, due to the high efficiency, but for a gas snow blower the numbers will be quite different. So a 4hp gas snow blower should be pretty comparable to an electric snow blower consuming 3kW.