"Electric cars as polluting as cars running on petrol"

Electric cars seemed to be the solution to stop the greenhouse effect and reduce the impact of carbondioxide emissions on this planet. However, it's not all good news. Carbon emissions due to the combustion of traditional fuels such as diesel or petrol may be reduced almost to zero for electric cars, there is another problem.

An average electric car is responsible for as much (or even more) particulate matter in the air. This is because it is heavier, due to the heavy batteries. This causes more wear and tear on the brakes, tyres and the street surface, Van Zeebroeck points out. 

Things should be put into perspective though, as electric cars are still a lot better than diesel cars, which emit more fine particulate matter than petrol cars. Electric cars also score a lot better outside cities, where the impact on the brakes is usually smaller on longer stretches outside town.

So what could be a solution for the cities? Light electric vehicles, such as electric bikes or small vehicles like those used in the golf sport, could partly solve the problem in cities, says Van Zeebroeck.