Brussels  - Plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles are more efficient and less greenhouse gas intensive than all other alternatives, the World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF) reported.

"The cars of the future must be much more efficient smaller, lighter, more aerodynamic - and they should increasingly, be powered by electricity," said James Leape, Director General of WWF International.

The organization's analysis found electric vehicles were three times more efficient than hydrogen-fuelled vehicles.

"More importantly perhaps, electric vheicles can be widely introduced using existing technologies and distribution infrastructure," the WWF said.

Other oil extraction alternatives such as coal-to-liquid fuels and exploitation of oil sands were extremely energy intense and only used on a significant scale in countries facing a state of emergency, the organisation said.

"Cleaner power generation and more use of renewable fuels in power generation will make it certain that the comparative efficiency and pollution advantages of plug-in transport will improve into the future," the WWF said. (dpa)