QUIET POLLUTERS: A charging station for electric cars which, says Clive Matthew-Wilson, are no more environmentally friendly than petrol cars.

An Auckland publisher has produced a report that criticises the electric car as being no more environmentally friendly than petrol cars.

The 168-page report, entitled The Emperor's New Car, has been written by Clive Matthew-Wilson, the editor of the Dog and Lemon Guide for car buyers. He said he spent three years researching the report with the aid of staffers and input from several international experts.

His conclusion was that the Tesla electric sports car was less efficient and usually more indirectly polluting than a comparable petrol-powered sports car.

"Most of Tesla's publicity focuses on the efficiency of its electric motor. What they don't tell you is that its batteries are heavy, inefficient and that Teslas are frequently powered by electricity from highly polluting power stations."

Better results came where renewable electricity was available but such generation was expensive and unlikely to be rolled out in volume in the near future.

Matthew-Wilson said he had written the report because he was concerned the car industry was sending a false message that electric cars were environmentally friendly.

He contends their widespread introduction would be detrimental in a world where coal-generated electricity still dominates.

"Claims that electric cars are emissions-free are simply a lie; they merely transfer the pollution from the road to the power station."

In four of the five countries surveyed, the Tesla was less efficient and more polluting than the conventional Lotus Elise. Only in New Zealand, where most electricity was produced by hydroelectric generation, was the Tesla "greener".

However, Matthew-Wilson said a New Zealand scientist had recently predicted that if the country's car fleet was replaced with electric cars, it would probably need to build coal power stations to meet the demand.

The report suggests China is likely to be the main beneficiary of the electric car movement. It is likely to be the first country to mass-produce electric cars, but the report says they would be made with environmentally destructive materials in high-polluting factories.

Matthew-Wilson said there was no easy fix to the energy crisis.

"Most of the world's alternative energy industry is based on quick fixes to the current system. In reality, most of this technology either isn't economic, doesn't work, or simply doesn't exist and isn't going to exist any time soon.

"It disturbs me to see politicians and business leaders on television promoting fantasy technology using fantasy economics."

Vehicle scientist Chris Coxon, the former technical chairman of the Australian New Car Assessment Programme, confirmed the report was scientifically sound.

"I have been through the report and the references and figures that he's quoted are all from noted researchers in the field, and I have no problem with the data that's in the report.

"To me using today's technology there's no net benefit from a global CO2 emissions from the electric car and I think it's the first time it has been put as forcefully as Clive has done so in this report."

He said the electric car had an advantage in traffic jams because the engine shut down and stopped using power.