Small electric car batteries better than large ones?

PITTSBURGH: A new study has suggested that drivers looking to go green could be better off buying an electric vehicle with a small battery pack.

The Carnegie Mellon research, published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that conventional wisdom - a long electric range is better for the environment - might not be correct if it involves a large, heavy battery pack.

Instead, vehicles with smaller battery packs provide more emissions benefits and oil displacement benefits per dollar spent, said the scientists, led by Jeremy J. Michalek.

"While larger battery packs allow plug-in vehicles to drive longer distances on electric power instead of gasoline, they are also expensive and heavy, they are underutilized when the battery capacity is larger than needed for a typical trip, they require more charging infrastructure and they produce more emissions during manufacturing," explained Michalek.

The research hints that US government policy - which provides larger subsidies for vehicles with larger battery packs - could be a red herring, proving more expensive because of the large batteries and therefore wasting money that could be spent on vehicles with a more tangible benefit.

According to an in-depth analysis of the report by Auto Observer, the scientists concluded that plug-in vehicles could produce more damage than hybrid vehicles, because of the average emissions from US power plants.

They also calculated that the lifetime ownership cost for the average American will be higher, adding "it is clear that the high costs of vehicles with larger battery packs are not balanced by fuel cost savings or emissions damage and oil premium reduction." – Relaxnews (The Star)