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PHEVs release nearly 5x more planet-heating pollution than official data indicate, as per a recent analysis.

Growing Discrepancy In Official and Actual Emissions

Statistics reveals that PHEVs emit just 19% less CO₂ than conventional gas and diesel vehicles, according to analysis conducted by a non-profit organization. This contrasts sharply with laboratory tests, which suggested a three-quarters reduction in pollution.

Analysts examined information from in-vehicle energy use meters of eight hundred thousand vehicles sold in the EU from 2021 and 2023. The team discovered that real-world CO₂ output from PHEVs in 2023 were 4.9 times higher than lab figures, up from three and a half times in 2021.

“Real-world emissions are rising, while official figures are falling,” said a lead researcher participating in the report. “This discrepancy is widening and creates a serious problem. Consequently, PHEVs emit nearly as heavily as petrol cars.”

Primary Factors Behind the Emissions Gap

Researchers linked the majority of the difference to inflated estimates of the “utility factor” – the percentage of miles travelled in electric mode relative to total mileage. They found that only 27% of driving was done in EV mode, while lab assumptions suggested over four-fifths.

Even, when running in EV mode, pollution amounts were well above lab projections. That occurred because EV motors were insufficiently powerful enough to operate independently, resulting to engines using fossil fuels for almost a third of the travel completed in electric mode.

Regulatory and Economic Consequences

Based on estimates, the underestimation of PHEV emissions allowed several large carmaker companies to avoid over €5bn in fines between 2021 and 2023, by artificially easing adherence with European Union average fleet CO₂ targets.

Additionally, drivers of PHEVs would pay about €500 more per year in running expenses than is assumed under laboratory conditions.

“The bold statements that automakers often promote about their PHEV vehicles are clearly far from the mark,” commented a automotive expert. “Buyers are being duped into believing that by buying a PHEV, they are benefiting the environment and saving costs. Actually, PHEVs are little better than standard petrol and diesel cars in terms of fuel consumption, CO₂ production, and operating costs.”

Political Debate and Automotive Lobbying

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

Several senior officials have proposed plug-in hybrids as a possible “flexibility” option to include in the legislation.

One external energy policy expert, who was unaffiliated with the research, called the analysis a “highly valuable addition” after years in which segments of the automotive industry claimed there was insufficient data to properly assess real-world CO2 output.

“The results show, beyond any doubt, that the gap between official and real-world PHEV energy use and CO₂ output is much, much larger than for petrol or diesel vehicles,” they stated. “All regulatory changes concerning PHEVs should be implemented with extreme caution and in the light of this data.”