Thread by @jpr007

EU PLANS TOUGHER ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS FOR PLUG-IN HYBRIDS

Car companies are using plug-in hybrids to improve their carbon footprint

Studies show, however, that more cars are driven with internal combustion engines than assumed
tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaft/nic…

By the end of February, the manufacturers had to report the CO2 values of their new car fleets in 2020 to the EU Commission

It will probably be autumn before the EU authority has checked the data and published the values

However, it seems that the industry will get off lightly once again

This time only Volkswagen and Jaguar Land Rover are likely to fail the hurdle, which is an average of 95 grams of emissions per kilometre driven

All manufacturers have been helped in reaching their fleet targets by the boom in plug-in hybrids

Plug-in hybrids are not included in the statistics with their actual fuel consumption

On the contrary, they have dreamy values :

For example, the dual-drive model of Daimler's A-Class claims 32 grammes of CO2 per kilometre driven, which corresponds to a fuel consumption of 1.4 litres per 100 kilometres

This assumes that the theoretical electric range of now up to 100 kilometres is actually used

In practice, however, things often look different

If heavier vehicles are only driven in combustion mode, consumption is much higher than for the most economical diesel-only vehicles

Plug-in hybrids are a sales hit - also thanks to the purchase subsidy of up to €6,750 for new cars, which has been extended until the end of 2025

According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, 200,469 new vehicles of these were registered in Germany in 2020, more than four times as many as in the previous year

Fully electric vehicles newly registered in Germany were 194,163, a threefold increase

All brands, especially the premium manufacturers, have many new plug-in hybrids in the pipeline

Daimler, for example, currently sells 20 plug-in hybrid model variants from the A-Class to the S-Class

This year, more model variants of the C- and S-Class are to be added

A spokesman told Tagesspiegel Background :

"We are consistently converting our portfolio so that we can achieve more than half of our passenger car sales with plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles by 2030"

The picture is similar at Volkswagen with Audi and Porsche, and at BMW

All are banking on a massive expansion of the plug-in share and thus hope to get away without penalty payments even in the upcoming tightening of CO2 fleet limits

But the manufacturers' CO2 strategy is risky

They are counting on plug-in hybrids continuing to be rated so favourably by EU regulators

According to information from Background, however, the privileges for the dual-drive technology are highly endangered

The EU regulation assumes that plug-in hybrids are driven 70% in electric mode and 30% in combustion mode

This so-called usage factor is laid down in the relevant WLTP regulation

However, studies show that private individuals only have an average e-driving share of 43%, and company car users, who may also have a fuel card, only use e-driving to the tune of 18%

"You'd have to be a stick-in-the-mud to think that EU regulation is not addressing the usage factor," says one of the best-informed lobbyists for a German manufacturer in Brussels

A VW spokesman also confirms :

"For a discussion of the usage factors we expect significantly changed real driving data compared to today"

The pressure on the EU Commission is high

Climate activists are mobilising against the high-powered SUV models among the plug-in hybrids, which have CO2 values of 200 grams per kilometre driven and more in pure combustion mode

The Commission could adapt the unrealistic user regulation for plug-in hybrids relatively easily

It would not even have to make a new EU law to do so

The member states would not have full say in such an operation

It is likely that Frans Timmermans, who is responsible for the Green Deal, will tackle the issue soon

He has announced that the CO2 fleet targets for the years 2025 and 2030 will be tightened again

According to current EU law, emissions are to be reduced by an average of 37.5% from 2021 to 2030

Timmermans wants to increase this value to 50% and present a legislative proposal for this in June

In the course of this, Brussels expects that the special privilege for plug-in hybrids will be dropped

The manufacturers will then have to come up with something new