Surprise, surprise. Many plugin hybrids pollute vastly more than advertised, even when their batteries are fully charged. Unfortunately, plugin hybrids are not the solution that Toyota claims that they are. I’m sure you’re not shocked to hear that, because a lot of people that use them or own them don’t even use them as EV’s. But for those that do, even then, they’re not actually providing the fuel efficiency data that they claim that they are.
PHEVs should not be treated as zero-emissions vehicles, says the Transport and Environment Clean Transport Advocacy Center. The reason being, European governments actually spent €350,000,000 or $375,000,000 US dollars, subsidizing plugin hybrids in 2022. But the commissioners of a new study from Grants University of Technology; not some EV advocacy group, just the University of Technology, argue that real-world emissions data suggests that the supposedly ecological vehicles are not worth this investment. Subsidies should end. Subsidies have ended in the UK, in Germany and Ireland, in some of the countries as well. I actually think this is simply a predictor of the future.
Plug-in-hybrids, in my opinion, by 2025, will simply be a niche product for various reasons. Of course, one of those is the fact that battery technology continues to improve. The range continues to increase . However, the other one is studies like this proving that plugin hybrids are not really doing what they claim to be doing. “Plugin hybrids are sold as the perfect combination of a battery for all your local needs and an engine for long distances. But real-world testing shows this is a myth”, says Anna Krajinska, vehicle emissions manager at Transport and Environment, a clean transport advocacy center. In city tests, just one, only one of the plugin hybrids tested has the electric range advertised, while all three emitted more than claimed in commuter driving.
Lawmakers should treat plugin hybrids based on their actual emissions, not the mythological numbers being presented by manufacturers of these vehicles. I for years have seen these numbers and thought, really, that plugin hybrid gets one liter per 100 driving? That’s amazing. Well, yeah, I was skeptical then. I was still skeptical now. Turns out I was right to be skeptical.
Researchers at the university tested three new plugin hybrid vehicles in real-world conditions, in Grants, Austria. They found that the BMW 3 series, the Peugeot 308 and the Renault Megane did not match WLTP electric range estimates and polluted more than indicated by WLTP estimates. Whether their batteries were fully charged or not, it made almost no difference.
Now, I should point out before continuing here that Toyota says that plugin hybrids are a better use of the earth’s limited battery materials. Toyota says that there’s not enough lithium to go around. They don’t even acknowledge the fact that sodium exists. They just said there’s not enough lithium to make every car have less than a 1 kWh battery, which is minuscule. It’s about the size of a battery on an electric scooter or slightly bigger, but not much difference. And therefore plugin hybrids are the only answer. Of course, that’s because that’s what Toyota make.
On a 50 kilometer, 31 mile city driving loop, only the Renault Megane plugin hybrid could match its estimated zero emissions range. Now, this testing loop is exactly setup in order to benefit plugin hybrids. It’s only 31 miles, 50 km. These plugin hybrids should have ace this test. It was like they couldn’t have picked a better test for plugin hybrids. It’s at this point, right, 50km, 31 miles. It’s at that point where, okay, after that, things start to get bad for plugin hybrids.
It’s up until this point where the plugin hybrids should have been shining. They should have been saying, look how great we are, and actually living up to the claims from the manufacturers. But the BMW 3 series only achieved 74% of its estimate. The Peugeot 308 went only half as far as what it was supposed to on electric power. Now, for example, if the Tesla Model 3 had half the range of its claims, do you think the media wouldn’t have a field day? You know what? This study has been out for a while now. The media hasn’t said a single thing about the fact that the BMW Three series achieved 74%, or that this Peugeot plug in hybrid achieved 50%.They didn’t seem interested.
For these reasons and more, even when the batteries on the vehicles were fully charged, researchers found that the Megane emitted 20% more CO2 than advertised. Oh, wow. Even when fully charged, the Peugeot emitted 70% more and the BMW emitted 300% more than it should have. Now, this is ridiculous. This is at the point where I feel actually angry that they’re getting away with this. The media doesn’t want to know. 300% more CO2 now need to remind people the stuff coming out of these exhausts cause cancer. Not just cancer, but autism. All kinds of things. All kinds of different respiratory illnesses. And yet the media just doesn’t care 300% more. In my opinion, that should be the situation where BMW are being prosecuted in court. That’s a disgrace.
When the batteries were depleted, meanwhile, the results got even worse. The cars emitted between five and seven times more than they were supposed to under these conditions, five to seven times more. Although that may seem obvious, it remains an important test because 71% of plugin hybrids sold in Europe become company cars. And research shows they drive almost entirely on engine power and are rarely charged. 71%, probably at least 50% of them of all plug in hybrids sold in Europe aren’t actually charged on batteries at all. In other words, they’re emitting 5 to 7 times more emissions regularly 100% of the time. Than what is advertised.
Even utilizing the latest technology did not help. The BMW Three Series made use of geo fencing technology that worked to intelligently safe battery power on the highway and deploy it in the city, where in theory, it should be more useful, said Car scoops. Car scoop says the study found, though, that this technology did not guarantee that the vehicle will drive on its batteries in the city and risk increasing to emissions in other areas.
The results of the study, though limited, have prompted Transport and Energy to advocate that lawmakers change how they subsidize plug in hybrids, which is what’s happened in Germany, of course, at the very least. The organization says, the incentives should be based on real world pollution. And if they were, there would be no incentives anywhere in the world for plug in hybrids.
“PHEVs should not be treated as zero emissions, even if they use Geofencing capability. Private car and company car taxes for plugin hybrids should be based on the actual CO2 reduction delivered”, says Krishinska. Government should end all purchase subsidies for plugin hybrids in fleets and instead encourage companies to use battery electric cars, which are truly zero emissions.
Now, if you think this doesn’t work, look at Hertz. Look at this stock price. Look at how well Hertz is going as a company. They’ve embraced proper electric cars, not these fake ones. And you know what I want to see? I would love to see this happen. All the electric car websites should stop reporting these bogus numbers and pretending they’re EVs.
They are doing this constantly. They are reporting these bogus numbers month by month by month. Says Stallantis is in the lead, Volkswagen is in the lead because they’re selling X number of plug-in cars when the majority of those vehicles are plug in hybrids. And they’re not electric cars at all. End of discussion. Let’s stop arguing about it. ‘I’ve seen these arguments everywhere. Plugin hybrids are EVs. They can drive 100 km on battery pet’. No, they cannot. That is nonsense. These tests prove it. This discussion needs to end.
