Plug-in hybrids almost as bad as ICEVs

 From The Guardian

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) pump out nearly five times more planet-heating pollution than official figures show, a report has found.

The cars, which can run on electric batteries as well as combustion engines, have been promoted by European carmakers as a way to cover long distances in a single drive – unlike fully electric cars – while still reducing emissions.

Data shows PHEVs emit just 19% less CO2 than petrol and diesel cars, an analysis by the non-profit advocacy group Transport and Environment found on Thursday. Under laboratory tests, they were assumed to be 75% less polluting.

The researchers analysed data from the onboard fuel consumption meters of 800,000 cars registered in Europe between 2021 and 2023. They found real-world carbon dioxide emissions from PHEVs in 2023 were 4.9 times greater than those from standardised laboratory tests, having risen from being 3.5 times greater in 2021.

“Real-world emissions are going up, while official emissions are going down,” said Sofía Navas Gohlke, a researcher at Transport and Environment and the co-author of the report. “This is the gap that is getting worse and it is a real problem. As a result, PHEVs pollute almost as much as petrol cars.”

The researchers attributed most of the gap to overestimates of the “utility factor” – the ratio of miles travelled in electric mode to the total miles travelled – finding that 27% of driving was done in electric mode even though official estimates assumed 84%. The European Commission has announced two corrections to the utility factor ratio that will narrow the gap but not close it entirely, according to the analysis.

Even when the cars were driven in electric mode, the analysis found that levels of pollution were well above official estimates. The researchers said this was because electric motors were not strong enough to operate alone, with their engines burning fossil fuels for almost one-third of the distance travelled in electric mode.

Patrick Plötz, head of energy economics at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, who was not involved in the study, said it was a “very useful contribution” after years in which parts of the automotive industry argued there was too little data to accurately assess real-world emissions.

“The results demonstrate, beyond any doubt, that the gap between official and real-world PHEV fuel consumption and CO2 emissions is much, much larger than for gasoline or diesel cars,” said Plötz, who has published research on the topic. “Any policy changes with respect to PHEVs should be made with utmost care and in the light of that data.”

Hybrid cars have been drawn back into the political debate as carmakers have pressed the EU to weaken CO2 targets. A ban on new combustion engine cars in 2035 has been subject to heavy lobbying from the automotive industry and opposition from member states with large car industries.

“There must not be a drastic cut in 2035,” the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said after a summit last week with the country’s struggling automobile industry, promising to do “everything in [his] power” to achieve that. Other senior German politicians have floated plug-in hybrids as one example of possible “flexibilities” they could introduce to the legislation.

Have European car companies learnt nothing from Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal?  They're still lying to us.   Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) do not use 75% less petrol per kilometre, compared to petrol/diesel cars.  No.  They use just 20% less.  People who bought PHEVs assuming they were doing something about the climate were deceived, deliberately.  Governments were deceived and lied to.  I supported plug-in hybrids because we were told they used 80% less petrol than ICEVs.  And that was a lie.

This is a good point to talk about EREVs:  extended range electric vehicles.  Like hybrids, they have a petrol and an electric motor.  Unlike hybrids, the petrol motor is not connected to the wheels.  Instead, it charges the battery, but only when the battery is nearing empty.  Normally, you would charge your EREV overnight, perhaps, ready for your daytime commute, or over the day from your solar panels.   The 60 or 80 or 100 km range from the battery will be enough for 90% of the time, since most journeys are relatively short.  Only occasionally do you need much more range.  For example, I live in a provincial town.  I rarely drive more than 20 km a day.  However, every 3 months or so, I drive to the big city, which is 180 km away.  Most of the EVs I could afford, don't have enough range to get there, drive around, and get back without recharging.   And many I've spoken to in the town cite this as a reason not to buy an EV.  For us, right now, an EREV would be a good option.  

The Chevrolet Volt was an EREV, and it used the petrol engine so rarely that GM's engineers had to put in an override which forced the petrol engine to turn on every three months, just to keep it working properly.  In their case, the claim that it reduced petrol consumption by 80% was completely plausible.

The authorities should immediately withdraw subsidies for plug-in hybrids, but extend those for EREVs.  In a few years, batteries will be so cheap that range-extenders will not be necessary.  Until then, EREVS  fill a niche.

China Set To Add 62-Mile Minimums For PHEV Range