Energy agency: SUV growth weighs on emissions, batteries

BERLIN (AP) — The International Energy Agency says ever bigger cars pose a growing problem for the environment because they produce more greenhouse gas emissions and need larger batteries than their smaller cousins. The Paris-based body suggested Monday that it’s time for the car industry to downsize their vehicles, citing data that showed sports utility vehicles, or SUVs, pumped out almost 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide last year. While conventional vehicles sales slowed slightly, sales of electric cars topped 10 million for the first time last year. But the agency noted that more than half of the electric cars sold in 2022 were heavier SUVs that require larger batteries.