Many car manufacturers decide to target more and more vehicles hybrids, labeled as those of transition for those who want to move definitively from petrol and diesel to pure electric. And precisely with regard to hybrid vehicles, the European Union is planning to tighten its method for detecting carbon dioxide emissions from plug-in hybrids, after several criticisms have rained according to which test results they can be up to four times lower than real emissions. The new test format could come into effect in 2025.
The tests, which are carried out as part of the Worldwide Light Vehicles Testing Procedure, better known as WLTP, were “embittered“Following the Dieselgate scandal that broke out in 2015, when the EU was accused of being too lenient and not reflecting reality with its tests: the new procedure uses real-world data to better reflect emissions, but many critics have found that in the case of plug-in hybrids, fuel consumption estimates are still overly optimistic. This was borne out by a study conducted by the International Council for Clean Transportation, a think tank in the environmental sector, which took into consideration the data on emissions of 100,000 PHEV vehicles sourced from sources such as company car databases and consumer consumption monitoring websites and highlighted the disparity between estimated and actual emissions.
“Emissions continue to decline every year and it is a real success – said Peter Mock, CEO of ICCT for Europe – But the big problem is hybrids, that’s what it is misleading“. According to the organization, governments are wrong to equate pure electric models with plug-in hybrids when they go to implement incentives for low-emission cars: also for this reason the EU has already set to work to review PHEV vehicle test standards, with a final decision that will be taken later in the year.
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