European Commission. Plug-in hybrid cars emit 350% more carbon dioxide than advertised

according to European Commission (EC) report. You Hybrids Delivery in Producing 350% more CO2 emissions_two in the real world” One of the approved values ​​in the WLTP course.

Hybrids Delivery in They were not the only ones targeted. Gasoline- or diesel-only vehicles are also part of this report, but showed much smaller differences: 23.7% and 18.1%, respectively.

The data collected for this report comes from a sample of 600,000 vehicles (out of a total of 988,231 vehicles monitored) and refers to 2021, the year in which fuel consumption monitors will be introduced It became mandatory On all new passenger and goods vehicles sold in the EU that use liquid fuel.

Fuel economy monitors not only record fuel consumption but also the distance traveled. With their help, the EU gets a more realistic idea of ​​the discrepancy between the values ​​in the WLTP cycle and the real ones.

Let's move on to the numbers

In the case of hybrids Delivery in This contradiction is huge: carbon dioxide emissions_two The official figures for the models considered, according to the WLTP combined cycle, are 40g/km (39.6g/km exactly), but the data received suggest a value practically 100g/km higher, at 139.4g/km. This difference corresponds to an increase in fuel consumption of four liters per 100 kilometers.

A value that satisfies other values ​​already developed by other entities, e.g International Council on Clean Transportation (International Council on Clean Mobility), which in its studies reached the conclusion that “real fuel consumption Delivery in In Europe, it is three to five times higher than the approval values ​​for the WLTP test.

In the case of gasoline and diesel vehicles, the difference is in CO2 emissions_two It is 35 g/km and 28 g/km respectively, which equates to 1.5 liters of additional fuel per 100 km compared to official data.

Data quality is “very poor”.

However, the European Commission draws attention to the “rather poor” quality of data, as there is a large discrepancy between the amount of data provided by car manufacturers. Jaguar Land Rover sent data to 43% of its fleet, while Mercedes-Benz and Volvo sent only 27% and 24% respectively. However, most of the remaining brands sent a meager 5% or less.

After processing all hybrids Delivery inThe data used in the report was dominated by Mercedes-Benz (39%), Volvo (19%), and Ford (16%).

“Although these early data are not broad enough or representative enough to draw firm conclusions, they provide valuable preliminary information about vehicle emissions.”

European Commission report

WLTP cycle for the plug-in hybrid vehicles in question

The WLTP cycle was introduced in 2017 and one of its objectives was to reduce discrepancies between official consumption and emission values ​​and those obtained in real conditions. Given the data in this report, this goal has been partially achieved.

If we consider only petrol and diesel vehicles, the combined discrepancy of 20% is about half of what was recorded in the previous NEDC cycle. However, when it comes to hybrids Delivery inThe WLTP cycle is completely fallacious, as these first results show.

The reason is due to the fact that it is in hybrids Delivery inthe “utility factor” that relates the certification test to consumption and CO2 emissions_two. This indicates the expected distance traveled in 100% electric mode, which in this case amounts to 70-85% of the total. In fact, this prediction has not been confirmed.

“These vehicles are not being used to their full potential, nor are they being charged or used in 100% electric mode as they are supposed to be.”

European Commission report

For this reason, the European Commission has already decided to lower the “utility factor” of hybrid cars Delivery in To 50% as of 2025 for private vehicles. Business/fleet vehicles will be affected by the new calculation method from 2027. This means that official consumption and emissions values ​​will be higher.

Hybrids Delivery in in Europe

This report comes at a time when more and more automakers are postponing their sales and investment targets in 100% electric vehicles and investing, instead, in hybrid technology, including Delivery in.

It is the industry's response to the general slowdown in demand for electric vehicles occurring in the market, which has already been confirmed in the sales tables.

In February of this year, for example, hybrids Delivery in It recorded greater sales growth compared to electric cars. It is a trend that should continue to be celebrated this year.

source: Car news europe