Jeremy Michalek says the biggest electric vehicle subsidies are
going to the wrong cars. After studying the life cycle of
electrified cars -- from the first moment of raw material mining
to the final day in the car's life -- Michalek and fellow
researchers have concluded that hybrids with smaller batteries
pollute less than pure EVs. That, of course, flies in the face
of everything we now believe. Today, cars with bigger lithium-
ion batteries receive three times as much in federal subsidies
than hybrids with smaller batteries. Those subsidies, however,
are based on the idea that big-battery EVs pollute less, which
may not necessarily be so, Michalek says. A battery electric
vehicle (shown as "BEV240") could be responsible for more social
damage in the form of emissions than a plug-in hybrid, largely
as a result of battery size. (Source: Carnegie Mellon
University) "As the battery pack gets larger, the emissions
associated with manufacturing can be quite significant,"
Michalek, an associate professor of mechan