🔗 Share this article

PHEVs produce almost 5x greater planet-heating emissions than lab-reported data show, as per a new analysis.

Widening Gap Between Lab and Real-World CO2 Output

Statistics shows that PHEVs release only 19% less CO₂ than conventional gas and diesel cars, based on research carried out by a non-profit group. That differs significantly with lab estimates, which suggested a 75% reduction in pollution.

Researchers studied information from onboard energy use meters of 800,000 cars registered in the EU from 2021 and 2023. The team found that real-world CO₂ output from PHEVs in 2023 were nearly five times greater than official figures, increased from three and a half times in 2021.

“Real-world CO2 output are increasing, while official emissions are decreasing,” stated a senior analyst involved in the report. “That discrepancy is widening and creates a serious problem. Consequently, PHEVs pollute almost as heavily as petrol cars.”

Key Factors Behind the Discrepancy

Analysts linked most of the gap to overestimates of the “utility factor” – the ratio of miles travelled in electric mode compared to total mileage. The team found that just a quarter of travel was done in electric mode, while official estimates suggested 84%.

Additionally, when running in electric mode, emission levels were significantly higher than lab projections. That occurred because EV motors were insufficiently powerful enough to function independently, leading to combustion motors burning fossil fuels for almost a third of the distance covered in EV mode.

Policy and Financial Consequences

Based on calculations, the lowballing of PHEV CO2 output allowed four major carmaker companies to escape more than €5bn in penalties from 2021 and 2023, by falsely simplifying compliance with European Union average fleet CO₂ targets.

Furthermore, owners of PHEVs could pay about €500 more per year in operating costs than is assumed under laboratory conditions.

“The bold claims that manufacturers often promote about their PHEV cars are clearly way off the truth,” commented a automotive expert. “Consumers are being misled into believing that by buying a PHEV, they are helping the planet and saving costs. Actually, PHEVs are little improved than standard gas and diesel cars in terms of energy use, CO₂ production, and operating costs.”

Policy Discussion and Industry Lobbying

Hybrid vehicles have lately been drawn back into policy discussions as carmakers have pressed the EU to relax CO₂ standards. A planned ban on new combustion engine cars in 2035 has faced heavy lobbying from the car sector and resistance from member states with large car manufacturing.

Some senior politicians have proposed plug-in hybrids as a potential “compromise” option to introduce in the legislation.

One independent energy economics expert, who was not involved with the research, called the analysis 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 demonstrate, without question, that the gap between official and real-world PHEV energy use and CO₂ emissions is significantly larger than for gasoline or conventional cars,” they stated. “Any policy changes regarding PHEVs should be made with extreme caution and considering this evidence.”