Oops: British Study Reveals Electric Cars Produce Higher Emissions Over their Lifetimes than Gas Equivalents

From the The Australian article (h/t Dave Powers at MichelleMalkin.com):

"Electric cars could produce higher emissions over their lifetimes than petrol equivalents because of the energy consumed in making their batteries, a study has found.

"An electric car owner would have to drive at least 129,000km before producing a net saving in CO2. Many electric cars will not travel that far in their lifetime because they typically have a range of less than 145km on a single charge and are unsuitable for long trips. Even those driven 160,000km would save only about a tonne of CO2 over their lifetimes.

"The British study, which is the first analysis of the full lifetime emissions of electric cars covering manufacturing, driving and disposal, undermines the case for tackling climate change by the rapid introduction of electric cars.

[...]

"The study was commissioned by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership, which is jointly funded by the British government and the car industry. It found that a mid-size electric car would produce 23.1 tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime, compared with 24 tonnes for a similar petrol car. Emissions from manufacturing electric cars are at least 50 per cent higher because batteries are made from materials such as lithium, copper and refined silicon, which require much energy to be processed.

"Many electric cars are expected to need a replacement battery after a few years. Once the emissions from producing the second battery are added in, the total CO2 from producing an electric car rises to 12.6 tonnes, compared with 5.6 tonnes for a petrol car. Disposal also produces double the emissions because of the energy consumed in recovering and recycling metals in the battery. The study also took into account carbon emitted to generate the grid electricity consumed."

Hmm. So let's see... electric cars are really expensive to produce-- even hybrids have a tough time turning profits-- have a really short range, and ultimately produce more CO2 than gas-powered cars. Ah, the short-sided need to do something. Perfect.

Speaking of battery disposal, what doesn't seem to be taken into account is the battery acid. Isn't battery acid like one of the most destructive things to put into the ground? But hey put hundreds of millions of car batteries out there. We'll just shoot the used up batteries into the sun or something.