2024-04-01 13:03:55
Hybrid cars are 3.5 times more polluting than manufacturers expected, this is what emerges from a study by the European Commission. At issue: the driving of motorists who do not use electric mode as often as they should and where they should.
A recent study published by the European Commission shows that plug-in hybrid cars are actually much more polluting than car manufacturers advertise. On average, they consume and pollute 3.5 times more than they theoretically should.
Since January 1, 2021, all new cars sold in Europe must have an energy consumption indicator, a small device that measures the volume of fuel burned, whether you are driving gasoline, diesel or a hybrid vehicle. This monitoring enabled the European Commission to carry out a study concerning actual CO2 emissions and compare them with the theoretical data provided by the manufacturers. The reality unfortunately turns out to be much less flattering.
Plug-in hybrid cars, not so “green”? “It’s all a question of usage”
A theory far from reality…
This study shows that, for hybrid cars, plug-in hybrid cars, CO2 emissions are 3.5 times higher, compared to the announced values. This is how this type of machine displays a “real” average consumption of 5.94 liters per 100 kilometers, compared to 1.69 l/100 km if we stick to the manufacturers’ data. This means that, in reality, plug-in hybrid cars emit on average 139.4 g of CO2 into the air every kilometer, compared to only 39.6 g as announced by manufacturers.
…and the driving habits of motorists
To explain such a difference, this report highlights the fact that drivers do not use these hybrids in electric mode as often as they might while, in their tests, manufacturers use them in an optimized manner. The owners of these vehicles drive much more on medium or long journeys on departmental or national roads, where the thermal engine is used, than at low speed in town, where the electric motor takes over.
Note that the European Commission has modified the calculation of the utility factor, which corresponds to the proportion of kilometers traveled with the electric motor compared to the kilometers traveled with the thermal engine, in order to bring it closer to real conditions. These changes will apply from 2025.
This report is based on data collected throughout 2021, on a sample of 617,194 cars, including 123,740 hybrids.
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