Tokyo — Mazda Motor, running counter to the industry’s shift towards electric vehicles, says rapid improvements in conventional-engine technology mean nonpetrol cars will not be needed on a mass scale to solve pollution woes. The car maker says electric cars may be more polluting than vehicles with internal combustion engines if the electric power is not from a clean source. It estimates the level of carbon dioxide emitted by a petrol-engine Mazda2 at about 9% less than the 162g/km attributed to an electric version of the car whose power comes from a coal-fired plant. "As long as conventional vehicles truly comply with regulations, electric cars won’t be needed to solve environmental issues," Mitsuo Hitomi, a managing executive officer who heads Mazda’s technical research centre, said in an interview in Tokyo on Wednesday.
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