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PHEVs produce almost five times more planet-heating pollution than official figures show, as per a recent report.

Growing Gap Between Official and Actual Emissions

Statistics shows that PHEVs release just 19% lower CO₂ than traditional gas and diesel vehicles, according to analysis carried out by a advocacy group. This contrasts sharply with lab estimates, which assumed a three-quarters decrease in pollution.

Analysts examined information from onboard energy use meters of 800,000 cars registered in Europe between 2021 and 2023. They found that actual CO₂ output from PHEVs in 2023 were 4.9 times higher than official figures, increased from three and a half times in 2021.

“Real-world emissions are increasing, while official emissions are decreasing,” said a senior analyst involved in the report. “This gap is growing and poses a significant problem. Consequently, PHEVs pollute nearly as heavily as gasoline cars.”

Primary Factors Behind the Emissions Gap

Analysts attributed most of the difference to overestimates of the “utility factor” – the ratio of miles travelled in battery mode relative to total distance. They found that just 27% of driving was completed in electric mode, while official estimates assumed 84%.

Additionally, when operating in electric mode, emission amounts were significantly higher than official projections. That happened because EV motors were insufficiently powerful sufficient to function independently, resulting to combustion motors using fossil fuels for almost one-third of the distance completed in EV mode.

Policy and Economic Implications

According to estimates, the underestimation of PHEV CO2 output enabled several large automaker companies to escape over €5bn in penalties from 2021 and 2023, by falsely simplifying adherence with EU average fleet CO₂ standards.

Additionally, drivers of PHEVs would spend approximately €500 extra annually in operating costs than is estimated under laboratory conditions.

“The bold statements that manufacturers often promote about their plug-in hybrid vehicles are obviously way off the truth,” stated a automotive expert. “Buyers are being misled into thinking that by purchasing a PHEV, they are helping the planet and cutting money. Actually, PHEVs are only slightly better than standard gas and diesel cars in terms of energy use, CO₂ production, and operating costs.”

Policy Discussion and Automotive Lobbying

Plug-in hybrid cars have recently been brought back into policy discussions as automakers have pressed the European Union to relax CO₂ standards. A planned ban on sales of new combustion engine vehicles in 2035 has faced heavy lobbying from the automotive industry and opposition from EU countries with significant car manufacturing.

Several senior politicians have proposed PHEVs as a potential “flexibility” option to introduce in the legislation.

An external energy economics specialist, who was unaffiliated with the study, described the report a “highly valuable addition” after a long period in which segments of the automotive industry claimed there was too little information to properly assess real-world CO2 output.

“These findings demonstrate, without question, that the difference between official and actual PHEV energy use and CO₂ output is significantly larger than for gasoline or conventional vehicles,” the expert said. “All regulatory changes concerning PHEVs should be made with extreme caution and in the light of that evidence.”