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Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles emit nearly 5x more global warming pollution than official figures indicate, as per a recent report.

Widening Discrepancy In Official and Actual CO2 Output

Statistics reveals that PHEVs release only 19% lower CO₂ than traditional gas and diesel cars, according to research carried out by a advocacy group. This contrasts significantly with lab tests, which assumed a 75% reduction in emissions.

Researchers studied data from onboard fuel consumption meters of eight hundred thousand cars registered in Europe between 2021 and 2023. They discovered that real-world CO₂ output from PHEVs in 2023 were 4.9 times higher than lab 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. “That discrepancy is growing and creates a serious problem. Consequently, PHEVs emit nearly as much as gasoline cars.”

Key Factors Behind the Emissions Gap

Analysts attributed the majority of the gap to overestimates of the “electric driving share” – the percentage of miles travelled in electric power relative to total mileage. They found that just 27% of travel was completed in electric mode, whereas lab estimates assumed 84%.

Even, when running in electric mode, pollution levels were significantly higher than official projections. That happened because electric motors were not strong enough to function independently, leading to engines using gasoline for almost one-third of the distance completed in EV mode.

Regulatory and Economic Implications

According to calculations, the underestimation of PHEV emissions allowed four major automaker groups to avoid more than €5bn in fines between 2021 and 2023, by falsely easing adherence with European Union fleet-average CO₂ standards.

Additionally, drivers of PHEVs would spend approximately €500 more per year in running costs than would be estimated under laboratory tests.

“The strong statements that manufacturers like to make about their PHEV cars are clearly way off the mark,” commented a transport analyst. “Consumers are being misled into believing that by purchasing a PHEV, they are helping the environment and cutting costs. In reality, PHEVs are only slightly improved than regular petrol and diesel vehicles in terms of energy use, CO₂ emissions, and operating expenses.”

Political Debate and Industry Lobbying

Plug-in hybrid vehicles have recently been drawn back into political debates as automakers have lobbied the EU to relax CO₂ targets. A planned ban on new internal combustion cars in 2035 has faced heavy lobbying from the car industry and opposition from EU countries with significant car industries.

Several high-level officials have proposed PHEVs as a possible “compromise” option to introduce in the regulation.

An external energy policy expert, who was not involved with the research, called the report a “highly valuable contribution” after a long period in which segments of the car sector argued there was too little information to properly evaluate actual emissions.

“The results show, without question, that the difference between official and real-world PHEV energy use and CO₂ emissions is much, much larger than for gasoline or diesel cars,” the expert said. “All regulatory changes regarding PHEVs should be implemented with utmost caution and in the light of that data.”