More stringent emissions tests for plug-in hybrid vehicles proposed in Europe
The free ride for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) could be coming to an end in Europe, where the European Union in proposing to tighten up carbon-dioxide (CO2) emission testing methods for the part-time EVs.
PHEVs have always been viewed as a transition, or gateway, technology from combustion-powered cars to EVs, and now they might be phased out faster than predicted with draft legislation pushing them out as soon as 2025.
The new testing regime, added to the WLTP cycle, will hit Europe’s car-makers hard after the EU reacted to criticism that PHEVs are emitting up to four times more in the real world than their claimed emissions figures.
Some car-makers in Europe are selling PHEVs at an equal weight to their full battery-electric models and still claiming the benefits from their part-time EVs to meet their fleet-average carbon-emission limits.
Car-makers would be banned under the draft legislation from calling PHEVs ‘sustainable’, and PHEVs would become covered under the same emission legislation as all combustion-powered vehicles.
The timing of new test regime for PHEVs coincides with the draft legislation and will mean car-makers will need to sell an even greater percentage of EVs to avoid CO2 emissions fines.
The EU is also discussing whether to bring data from on-board fuel-consumption meters, mandatory in Europe from last year, into the new test process to determine how often PHEVs are used as EVs and how often they are used exclusively as combustion cars.
The changes to the test process are under discussion by the EU’s Motor Vehicle Working Group on February 9 and a decision will be made in the second half of 2022.
While car-makers have used PHEVs to lower their fleet-average CO2 emissions, lobby groups have pushed for changes that reflect the real-world use of PHEVs, with suspicions that a significant percentage of owners don’t use them as EVs by failing to keep them charged.
The Volkswagen Group, Renault, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have all confirmed they have met their 2021 CO2 targets, thanks to EVs and high sales of PHEVs.
The WLTP (Worldwide Light Vehicle Harmonized Test) protocol includes a specific test for PHEVs, which can switch between combustion and EV power, to arrive at a CO2 grams per kilometre figure.
But the International Council for Clean Transportation argued that the WLTP cycle is at its least accurate for PHEVs due to owner usage habits.
ICCT studies from more than 100,000 PHEVs indicate they have a shorter than claimed EV range in the real world, leading many owners not to bother with charging them as often as car-makers predicted.
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Keyword: EU could force out PHEVs by 2025