🔗 Share this article

Plug-in hybrid cars produce nearly five times greater global warming pollution than official figures indicate, as per a new report.

Growing Discrepancy In Official and Actual CO2 Output

Statistics shows that PHEVs emit just one-fifth lower CO₂ than conventional gas and diesel vehicles, based on analysis carried out by a advocacy organization. That contrasts sharply with lab estimates, which suggested a three-quarters reduction in pollution.

Researchers studied information from onboard fuel consumption meters of eight hundred thousand vehicles registered in the EU between 2021 and 2023. The team found that real-world CO₂ emissions from PHEVs in 2023 were nearly five times higher than official figures, up from three and a half times in 2021.

“Actual emissions are increasing, while official emissions are falling,” stated a lead analyst participating in the report. “That discrepancy is growing and poses a serious problem. As a result, PHEVs pollute nearly as heavily as petrol cars.”

Key Factors Driving the Discrepancy

Researchers linked the majority of the gap to overestimates of the “utility factor” – the percentage of kilometers driven in battery power relative to overall mileage. They determined that just a quarter of driving was completed in electric mode, whereas lab estimates suggested over four-fifths.

Additionally, when running in electric mode, emission amounts were well above lab projections. This occurred because electric motors were insufficiently powerful sufficient to function alone, resulting to combustion motors using fossil fuels for almost one-third of the travel completed in electric mode.

Regulatory and Financial Consequences

According to estimates, the lowballing of PHEV CO2 output enabled four large carmaker companies to avoid over €5bn in fines from 2021 and 2023, by artificially easing adherence with European Union average fleet CO₂ targets.

Additionally, drivers of PHEVs would pay approximately €500 extra per year in operating expenses than would be estimated under laboratory tests.

“The strong statements that automakers often promote about their plug-in hybrid vehicles are obviously far from the mark,” commented a transport analyst. “Consumers are being duped into thinking that by purchasing a PHEV, they are helping the environment and cutting costs. Actually, PHEVs are little better than standard petrol and diesel cars in terms of energy consumption, CO₂ emissions, and operating expenses.”

Policy Debate and Industry Pressure

Hybrid vehicles have recently been drawn again into policy debates as automakers have lobbied the EU to relax CO₂ targets. A planned prohibition on new internal combustion vehicles in 2035 has faced heavy lobbying from the car industry and resistance from EU countries with significant automotive manufacturing.

Several high-level officials have suggested plug-in hybrids as a potential “flexibility” solution to introduce in the legislation.

An external energy policy expert, who was unaffiliated with the study, described the report a “very useful addition” after years in which parts of the car industry argued there was too little information to properly evaluate actual CO2 output.

“These findings demonstrate, without question, that the gap between official and actual PHEV fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions is significantly larger than for gasoline or diesel vehicles,” the expert stated. “All regulatory adjustments regarding PHEVs should be implemented with utmost caution and in the light of this data.”