🔗 Share this article

PHEVs release nearly 5x greater planet-heating emissions than lab-reported data show, as per a recent analysis.

Growing Gap In Official and Real-World Emissions

Data shows that PHEVs release only 19% lower CO₂ than traditional gas and diesel cars, based on research carried out by a advocacy organization. That differs significantly with laboratory estimates, which assumed a 75% decrease in pollution.

Analysts studied data from onboard fuel consumption meters of 800,000 vehicles registered in the EU from 2021 and 2023. The team discovered that real-world CO₂ output from PHEVs in 2023 were nearly five times greater than lab estimates, increased from 3.5 times in 2021.

“Actual CO2 output are rising, while lab-reported figures are decreasing,” said a senior researcher involved in the study. “That gap is widening and poses a significant problem. Consequently, PHEVs emit nearly as heavily as gasoline cars.”

Key Reasons Driving the Discrepancy

Analysts attributed most of the gap to inflated estimates of the “utility factor” – the ratio of miles travelled in battery mode compared to overall distance. The team found that just 27% of driving was done in electric mode, while lab estimates suggested 84%.

Even, when running in EV mode, pollution amounts were significantly higher than official estimates. That occurred because electric motors were insufficiently powerful sufficient to operate alone, leading to engines burning fossil fuels for nearly one-third of the distance completed in electric mode.

Regulatory and Economic Consequences

Based on estimates, the underestimation of PHEV CO2 output allowed four major carmaker groups to escape over €5bn in penalties between 2021 and 2023, by artificially simplifying adherence with European Union fleet-average CO₂ targets.

Furthermore, drivers of PHEVs would spend about €500 more per year in running costs than is estimated under lab tests.

“The strong claims that manufacturers like to make about their PHEV cars are clearly far from the truth,” stated a automotive analyst. “Buyers are being duped into believing that by purchasing a PHEV, they are benefiting the planet and cutting money. Actually, PHEVs are only slightly better than regular gas and diesel vehicles in terms of fuel use, CO₂ emissions, and running expenses.”

Policy Debate and Automotive Pressure

Hybrid cars have lately been drawn again into policy debates as automakers have lobbied the EU to relax CO₂ standards. A planned prohibition on sales of new internal combustion cars in 2035 has faced intense lobbying from the automotive industry and opposition from member states with significant car manufacturing.

Some senior officials have proposed PHEVs as a potential “flexibility” option to include in the regulation.

An independent energy economics expert, who was not involved with the study, called the report a “highly valuable addition” after years in which parts of the automotive industry argued there was too little information to accurately evaluate real-world emissions.

“These findings show, beyond any doubt, that the gap between official and actual PHEV energy use and CO₂ emissions is much, much larger than for petrol or diesel cars,” they stated. “All policy changes concerning PHEVs should be implemented with extreme care and considering that data.”