Electric battery common fuels such as gasoline. In automobiles, this is somewhat offset by the higher efficiency of electric motors in converting chemical energy to mechanical work, compared to combustion engines. The usage of "battery" to describe a group of electrical devices dates to Benjamin Franklin, who in 1748 described multiple Leyden jars by analogy to a battery of cannon (Benjamin Franklin borrowed the term "battery" from the military, which refers to weapons functioning together). Italian physicist Alessandro Volta built and described the first electrochemical battery, the voltaic pile, in 1800. This was a stack of copper and zinc plates, separated by
Electric vehicle battery kWh capacity in order to make an impact on petrol cars. Citigroup indicates $230/kWh. Toyota Prius 2012 plug-in's official page declare of autonomy and a battery capacity of 5.2 kWh with a ratio of /kWh, while the Addax (2015 model) utility vehicle already reaches 110 kilometres (68.5 mi) or a ratio of 7.5 kilometers (4.6 mi)/kWh. Battery electric cars achieve about /kWh. The Chevrolet Volt is expected to achieve 50 MPGe when running on the auxiliary power unit (a small onboard generator) at 33% thermodynamic efficiency that would mean 12 kWh for , or about 240 watt-hours per mile. For