Mazda Says Improved Gasoline Cars Cut Need for Electric Vehicles

The Mazda Motor Corp. Mazda6 vehicle is unveiled during AutoMobility LA ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017. AutoMobility LA brings automakers, tech companies, designers, developers, startups, investors, dealers, government officials and analysts together to unveil the future of transportation with over 50 vehicle debuts.Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
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Mazda Motor Corp., running counter to the industry’s shift toward electric vehicles, says rapid improvements in conventional-engine technology mean non-gasoline cars won’t be needed on a mass scale to solve pollution woes.

The automaker says electric cars may be more polluting than vehicles with internal combustion engines if the electric power isn’t from a clean source. It estimates the level of carbon dioxide emitted by a gasoline-engine Mazda2 at about 9 percent less than the 162 grams-per-kilometer attributed to an electric version of the car whose power comes from a coal-fired plant.