system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Does an electric car consume the same amount of energy as a petrol equivalent?

One problem we have in implementing electric vehicles as a central mode of transportation, is the source of energy: if the energy comes from fossil fuel plants, it defeats the purpose of buying an electric car . . . or does it?

Even if the electricity comes from a coal-burning plant, does an electric use the same amount of energy as a petrol equivalent, or more because of the extra battery weight, and for having a less potent energy source?
gpt
No, they consume much less. The Nissan Leaf goes ~160km of a 24kWh (86.4MJ) charge while the similar Nissan Versa requires 12.6L of gasoline (441MJ of energy) to travel the same distance. This is because electric cars recover a portion of the energy lost during braking, this is very significant in city driving where most energy is lost to braking rather than air and rolling resistance. Electric powertrains are also inherently much more efficient (~90%) than conventional engines (~35%).