Driving a better way forward

A switch to new electric cars will clearly have benefits for the environment, but Mike Seccombe’s article overlooks an issue that I find a little troubling (“Generally electric”, September 4-10). I’ve long thought that a greater carbon footprint might be created in manufacturing all of the parts in a new car and in delivering it to the point of sale than will actually be created in operating it throughout its life. If this is true, will new electric cars really be a solution? Can anyone present credible data that compares the carbon footprint of manufacturing cars to their actual use? Perhaps it would be environmentally better to properly maintain an existing petrol car, but use it much less, than to buy a new electric car? It would also help if we were to fix the way we let developers shape our suburbs, and thereby improve the way we commute.