🔗 Share this article Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles Emit Almost as Heavily as Gasoline Vehicles, Study Finds Plug-in hybrid cars produce nearly five times greater global warming pollution than official figures indicate, as per a new report. Growing Discrepancy Between Official and Real-World CO2 Output Data shows that PHEVs release only one-fifth less CO2 than traditional gas and diesel cars, according to research carried out by a advocacy group. This contrasts significantly with laboratory estimates, which suggested a 75% reduction in pollution. Researchers examined data from onboard fuel consumption 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 nearly five times greater than lab figures, up from 3.5 times in 2021. “Real-world emissions are rising, while lab-reported emissions are falling,” said a lead analyst involved in the report. “That gap is widening and poses a serious problem. As a result, PHEVs pollute almost as much as petrol vehicles.” Key Factors Behind the Discrepancy Analysts linked the majority of the difference to inflated estimates of the “utility factor” – the percentage of kilometers driven in electric power relative to total mileage. They determined that just a quarter of travel was done in EV mode, while lab estimates suggested 84%. Even, when running in electric mode, pollution levels were well above official projections. That occurred because electric motors were insufficiently powerful sufficient to operate alone, resulting to engines using fossil fuels for nearly one-third of the travel covered in electric mode. Policy and Financial Consequences According to estimates, the lowballing of PHEV emissions allowed four large automaker groups to escape more than €5bn in penalties between 2021 and 2023, by falsely easing adherence with European Union fleet-average CO2 standards. Furthermore, owners of PHEVs could pay about €500 extra annually in operating costs than is assumed under lab conditions. “The strong claims that manufacturers often promote about their plug-in hybrid cars are clearly far from the mark,” stated a automotive analyst. “Buyers are being misled into thinking that by buying a PHEV, they are benefiting the environment and saving money. Actually, PHEVs are only slightly better than standard petrol and diesel cars in terms of fuel consumption, CO2 production, and operating expenses.” Policy Debate and Automotive Pressure Plug-in hybrid cars have lately been brought back into political debates as automakers have lobbied the European Union to relax CO2 standards. A planned ban on sales of new combustion engine vehicles in 2035 has faced intense pressure from the car industry and resistance from EU countries with significant automotive industries. Some senior officials have proposed plug-in hybrids as a potential “flexibility” option to include in the legislation. An external energy economics specialist, who was unaffiliated with the research, described the analysis a “highly valuable addition” after years in which segments of the car industry argued there was too little data to properly evaluate real-world emissions. “The results demonstrate, beyond any doubt, that the difference in official and actual PHEV energy use and CO2 output is significantly larger than for gasoline or conventional vehicles,” the expert stated. “All policy adjustments regarding PHEVs should be implemented with utmost caution and in the light of that evidence.”