What’s the difference between a kW and a KWh? — Proper Care & Feeding of Cars with Jason Cammisa

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are coming — and quickly. Now is the time to learn the terminology — confusing kilowatts and kilowatt-hours is the same thing as confusing horsepower and gallons of gasoline.
To understand the difference between power output (kW) and battery capacity (kWh), all you have to do is watch this 2.5-minute instructional video. You’ll laugh. You’ll learn. And then you’ll sound like you know what you’re talking about.
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“Proper Care & Feeding of Cars” is a techsplainer series hosted by automotive journalist Jason Cammisa. Using equal measures of science, humor, and just plain common sense, it aims to help enthusiasts become the best car experts they can be. Covering everything from car-care to advanced driving techniques, new episodes of PC&F will debut regularly on ISSIMI’s YouTube and Instagram channels, as well as the @JasonCammisa Insta.

[georgev]

Aerospace engineer here. Camissa has a rare ability of explaining technical stuff in simple terms. Which goes to show me that he has a good grasp of what he is explaining. And that’s a very good quality. Well done sir.

[HMHacki]

PLEASE continue making these. Also people desperatly need one on Cd vs aerodynamic drag!

[brianswille]

Camissa, it's good to have you back!

[Demoni]

Great primer for EV terms. However there is a little mistake in the video that a lot of people also get wrong, referring to an EVSE as "a typical home charger". The box on the wall of your garage is an EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) this provides AC power to your cars onboard charger.

[suserman]

As an engineer in the USA, we always used the Joule as the unit to measure energy. (YES WE USE METRIC). Sure, power companies use kWh or MWh or GWh, but those aren't really basic units.
The problem is that Joule is tied to the second, instead of the hour; so to figure how many Joules of energy have been transferred in 1 hour at 1 kW of power, you'd have to multiply 1 x 1000 x 3600 = 3.6 MJ. (Mega Joules). Not exactly convenient now is it?

I cringe when people say kW as a measure of energy. That's like saying "Let's drive to the beach, it's only 20mph away".

[EV-olution]

This is absolutely brilliant! I never thought I would see you talking about EV power ratings, or battery capacity because I usually see you in the Hagerty videos about older cars (excellent by the way). Now I have to refer people to this video simply because it is so good; thank you, this is going on my EV-olution Facebook page 😎

[alexadelaide]

Also you can work out formulas by just looking at the units-
h= kWh / kW
kWh = kw x h
The units tell you the formula!

[ScorpioIsland]

Literally everything on this channel is perfect and amazing. May it live forever

[get]

Simple explanations delivered in a funny yet engaging way! You have my respect sir! Love it!

[stevewaclo]

Another aspect of electrical measurement, and one that is often misunderstood, is kW demand. When I joined a power company in the ‘70s, many folks thought it related to a peak load, while it is actually kWh over a specified time period, usually 1/2 hr or 15 minutes. ie, 100 kWH used over .5 hr results in kW demand of 200kW. The number is important to large consumers because it is an important element of their electric bill, and tells the utility the “demand” upon its system, from generating plant through T&D to the size of the transformers installed at the customers facility. Obviously, controlling kW demand on the load side can be advantageous to buyer and seller.

[sylvainlaurin]

Usually, capacity is related to a volume and volume is expressed in terms of «liter», «cubic inch», «gallon» and so on. kWh is the quantity specifically used to measure electrical or thermal energy. In general in the SI system, energy is measured in «Joule» (1 MJ = 0, 27 kWh).
Since a gallon of automotive gasoline is also thermal energy when burning, it can be expressed in kWh where 1 US gallon = 36, 6 kWh. This is why EPA talks about MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) for electric car consumption in order to be able to compare to ICE (internal combustion engine) consumption with ease.

[markk]

so many places this video needs to be shared!

[brucekennedy]

I knew this already (obnoxiously) but very nicely explained. Worth bookmarking for friends.

[simsneon]

Jason is the man give this man a raise he’s my favorite car Guy that is on YouTube and for that matter any show on television. He’s the best people he’s the best
BEST

[MrTheHillfolk]

I am a generator technician just finishing up lunch, saw this video and always love a good refresher on basic 101 stuff.

[justanotherguy]

We really needed a channel like this, thank you very much.

[mspeed]

HELL HAS FROZEN OVER: Cammisa is wearing a suit.

Another excellent Cammisa video.

[blackkobra]

Ohh man...how I missed thee. Thank God I found you here again Jason!!!!
Enlighten us.

[DaveR]

Right on - and great way to explain (and thanks for keeping it quick and not taking 10 minutes like many would)!

[vfischer]

Thank you for explaining why the metric system is better than freedom units aka imperial