Electric cars drive call for better buses

Vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf which run on rechargeable batteries may not be as environmentally friendly as first thought, says a study.

Research suggesting electric cars can be less environmentally friendly than petrol ones because of their energy consumption pushes New Zealand's case to create renewable energy and better public transport, the Green Party says.

A report by Clive Matthew-Wilson, author of the car-buyers' magazine the Dog & Lemon Guide, said a high percentage of the world's electricity was produced using "dirty" fossil fuels such as coal.

Widespread introduction of electric cars could increase the world's reliance on coal to keep up with the increased demand for electricity.

The report, said claims that electric cars were "emissions free" were wrong, as they simply transferred the pollution from roads to power stations.

The report, which was prepared in consultation with energy experts, focused on Tesla electric sports cars, saying they had heavy, inefficient batteries and were frequently powered by electricity from highly polluting power stations.

"Not only will electric cars not reduce emissions, they may increase emissions, because burning coal to make electricity to power an electric car creates more pollution than if you powered the same vehicle using petrol," the report says.

Green Party transport spokesman Gareth Hughes said the method of energy production was a key aspect of the report.

"In New Zealand our proportion of renewable electricity has been declining over the past two decades, so if we do want to use electric vehicles as a solution in the long term, we need to reverse that trend and produce more renewable electricity," he said.

Most of the world's energy was produced from fossil fuels, so electric cars were not always as green as people believed, he said.

In New Zealand, which gets about 70 per cent of its energy from renewable sources, the impact was less significant.

"So I guess it's an argument that we should go for 90 or 100 per cent."

In the medium to long term, it could still be beneficial to encourage people into electric cars in New Zealand, Mr Hughes said.

"In the short term it is about driving less and focusing on more alternatives to driving - public transport, walking and cycling."NZPA