Are electric cars really better ?

The recent letter from Paul Broady extolling the virtues of electric vehicles prompts me to write.

I am ready, even eager, to switch to an electric car (I have a test drive arranged for Wednesday) but I am unsure of the real environmental benefits. Yes, I am aware that in the South Island we use clean hydro power but what about the batteries? Can some properly qualified person assure me that the manufacture and disposal of vehicle batteries is less polluting than the use of diesel or petrol to give the same service?

I have read articles giving contrary points of view but they were in publications which, by their titles, could be suspected of having a view biased one way or the other.

Roger Clark, Northwood

A reader who has booked a test drive in an electric car has appealed for information on the true environmental benefits.