In 2025, electric cars formed 4% of total car sales in India, up from 2.5% in 2024. Decent growth, but it also means that 96% of our cars are driven on oil – a commodity that’s under pressure with the war in the Middle East.
But instead of looking at petrol/diesel/CNG versus electric from a macroeconomic point of view – where oil is definitely pricier than electricity – looking at from a physics point of view shows that EVs are far more efficient.
Physics of electric cars
Internal combustion engine is a wasteful technology – despite a century of R&D, modern ICE engines can transfer only 25-30% of the oil’s energy to propulsion, and the rest is wasted as heat and sound.
Creta Electric versus Creta petrol
Recently, we drove the electric and petrol variants of India’s most successful SUV, the Hyundai Creta. The Creta petrol is extremely refined, and fuel efficient, with a real-world figure of 12-14 km/litre. In a world of $100 (and rising) crude oil prices, that’s an expensive way to travel when 70-75% of what you pay is wasted as heat and sound.
The Creta Electric, on the other hand, is claimed to have energy efficiency of 90% – meaning 90% of the battery’s energy goes into powering the wheels, and only 10% is lost. It doesn’t ‘idle’ at traffic lights, there is no energy loss through complex transmission, and every time you apply brakes, the car regenerates electricity and powers the battery.
In a city like Delhi – where you apply brakes more than you accelerate – the Creta Electric acted like an energy-recovering machine, while the Creta petrol an energy-wasting machine.
US Environmental Protection Agency data
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), one litre of petrol contains 8.9 kWh of energy. In peak traffic conditions – when EVs are more efficient because you brake more – the Creta Electric covered 10 km on one kWh of electricity. This means that on 8.9 kWh – or one litre equivalent of petrol – it was able to travel a whopping 89 km/litre, a figure than petrol/diesel/CNG or even strong hybrid engines cannot match, ever. That’s how efficient electric cars are.
Superiority over necessity
While the Middle East conflict and the global oil shock remind us about the futility of a wasteful technology, we aren’t arguing to shift to EVs because the oil is getting expensive, but simply because electric technology is far better.
EVs rely on China?
There is a counterargument that the global rare earth supply chain is controlled by China – and therefore shifting to EVs will make the world shift its reliance from the Middle East to China – the battery can be recycled, and there are startups that claim to recycle 90% of a battery and turn it into as good as new, powering your next electric car.
Choosing between EVs and ICE
When you compare the Creta petrol with Creta Electric, you aren’t just choosing between fuel types, you are choosing between a machine that wastes energy and one that optimises it.
