🔗 Share this article

PHEVs release nearly 5x greater global warming emissions than official figures show, as per a new report.

Widening Gap In Official and Real-World Emissions

Statistics shows that PHEVs emit only one-fifth lower CO₂ than traditional gas and diesel cars, based on analysis carried out by a advocacy group. This differs significantly with laboratory tests, which suggested a 75% reduction in pollution.

Analysts examined information from in-vehicle energy use monitors of eight hundred thousand cars sold in Europe from 2021 and 2023. They found that real-world CO₂ output from PHEVs in 2023 were 4.9 times higher than official estimates, up from three and a half times in 2021.

“Real-world emissions are increasing, while lab-reported emissions are decreasing,” stated a senior analyst participating in the study. “This gap is growing and creates a serious issue. As a result, PHEVs pollute nearly as much as petrol vehicles.”

Key Reasons Driving the Discrepancy

Analysts attributed most of the difference to inflated estimates of the “utility factor” – the ratio of miles travelled in battery power compared to total mileage. The team found that just a quarter of travel was done in electric mode, whereas official assumptions assumed 84%.

Additionally, when running in EV mode, emission amounts were significantly higher than official projections. That occurred because electric motors were insufficiently powerful sufficient to operate independently, resulting to engines using fossil fuels for almost a third of the travel completed in electric mode.

Regulatory and Economic Implications

Based on calculations, the underestimation of PHEV CO2 output enabled several major automaker companies to escape over €5bn in fines from 2021 and 2023, by falsely easing compliance with European Union average fleet CO₂ targets.

Additionally, drivers of PHEVs could pay about €500 more per year in running costs than is assumed under lab tests.

“The bold claims that manufacturers like to make about their PHEV cars are obviously far from the mark,” stated a transport expert. “Consumers are being misled into believing that by purchasing a PHEV, they are benefiting the planet and saving costs. Actually, PHEVs are little better than regular petrol and diesel vehicles in terms of energy consumption, CO₂ emissions, and running costs.”

Policy Debate and Automotive Pressure

Hybrid vehicles have lately been brought again into political debates as automakers have pressed the European Union to relax CO₂ targets. A proposed prohibition on new combustion engine cars in 2035 has faced intense pressure from the automotive sector and opposition from EU countries with large car manufacturing.

Several high-level politicians have proposed PHEVs as a possible “compromise” option to include in the legislation.

An independent energy policy expert, who was unaffiliated with the study, called the analysis a “highly valuable contribution” after a long period in which parts of the car industry argued there was insufficient data to accurately assess actual emissions.

“These findings show, beyond any doubt, that the gap in lab and real-world PHEV fuel consumption and CO₂ output is significantly larger than for gasoline or diesel vehicles,” the expert said. “All policy changes concerning PHEVs should be implemented with utmost caution and in the light of this evidence.”