In countries that have electricity coming from fossil fuels, it's inherently less efficient. In countries like Norway where everything mostly comes from hydro power, this is completely different.
That's slightly better than the typical maximum efficiency of an internal combustion gasoline engine (and way better than the average, including idling and other inefficient operating conditions).
Electric cars suffer from two additional conversions, each of which adds inefficiency, but it's not obvious to me that this overcomes the efficiency benefit from having a central power plant using fossil fuels more efficiently than in the auto. To me, it seems close enough that it takes actual analysis to determine the winner.
> In countries that have electricity coming from fossil fuels, it's inherently less efficient
"Inherently" less efficient? As in, "electric cars are inherently less efficient that gasoline cars in fossil-fuel countries?" What a claim! And untrue! Unless you meant "electric cars in fossil-fuel regions are less efficient than electric cars in nuclear regions" then sure. But that's obvious.
Even in India, which has the worst carbon emissions coming from coal in the world, electric cars are about on par with gasoline ICEs. In India, it costs about 350 grams of CO2 emissions per kilometer of EV travel. That's roughly equivalent to a 25-30 MPG gasoline vehicle when you look at well-to-wheel for both.
In every other country in the world, coal emissions are better, which means that categorically electric vehicles are better for emissions than gasoline vehicles, even if the power source is coal.
In general electric cars, even from fossil fuel derived sources, are more efficient then internal-combustion engine vehicles when comparing "well to wheel" numbers.
They are also definitely cleaner for local environments - it is easier to regulate emissions from a couple dozen central powerplants then millions of individual engines.
In countries that have electricity coming from fossil fuels, it's inherently less efficient. In countries like Norway where everything mostly comes from hydro power, this is completely different.