Generally speaking, 6 volt are better because of the size of the lead plates. Bigger plates have more surface area exposed to the acid and thus they can produce more electricity. Back when vehicles had 6 volt batteries you could crank an engine for a really long time with that big old battery. It didn't turn over a fast, but it would crank for a long time in comparison to how long you can crank with a 12 volt. Two 6 volts in series will last almost twice as long as two 12 volts in parallel. I just wish I had switched to 6 volt batteries when I bought batteries but at the time the battery box wasn't big enough - it is now! I definitely will get 6 volt batteries the next time! Our military trucks had 4 six volt batteries for a long time until about 1980 when they started using 2 12 volt batteries which are about the size of four 6 volt batteries. After the switch we had a lot more battery trouble.
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