Technical Questions, page-5

Whilst I don't necessarily disagree with you, I'm not sure it's as simple as that. The main reason for gears in an IC engine is due to non linearity of torque/power curves. Changing to a lower gear multiplies the amount of torque available thus keeping the IC engine in its most efficient torque/power range. With an electric motor gears are not required, the motor naturally generates torque as a function of current draw, the slower an electric motor turns the lower the back-emf and the higher the current drawn. If this was a purely linear relationship I would agree with what you are saying however as we draw more current to increase torque, resistive losses multiply and we start losing energy in the form of heat from the battery , wiring and windings. Consequently, the higher the load you place on an electrical system, the less efficient it becomes. How this compares to inefficiencies in IC engines under load would require some pretty sophisticated modelling.