You should be multiplying the diesel price/joule numbers by roughly 5x to make them comparable to electrics. When you buy metered electricity, you're paying fo

You should be multiplying the diesel price/joule numbers by roughly 5x to make them comparable to electrics. When you buy metered electricity, you're paying for the end product. Internal combustion engines are roughly 20% efficient on average, going from chemical energy to kinetic. Electric motors are 90%+ from electricity to kinetic. "Electric locomotives benefit from the high efficiency of electric motors, often above 90%. Additional efficiency can be gained from regenerative braking, which allows kinetic energy to be recovered during braking to put some power back on the line." (From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_combustion_engine#Energy_efficiency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_combustion_engine#Ener... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_locomotive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_locomotive )