Hybrid vehicles continue to enjoy of a rather flattering image in the eyes of the consumer : We are sold as a mode of green and responsible mobility compared to thermal. The other big advantage that we can make us look at a dealership is a certain comfort of driving, without making too much compromise.
A short journey to make in town? The all -electric mode is there for that. A long journey to shoot? The heat engine takes over. Given this way, we could say that there is not much to blame them, but that is not what the last report of the ICCT (International Council on Clean Transportation) tells us on this subject. After examining Tesla’s role in the climate transition, the American organization proves to us that these double -engine vehicles are no longer up to it if we consider their real use, without stopping at their technical sheets. Above all When compared to 100 % electric vehicles.
Two technologies for a single dead end
Before immersing us in the ICCT figures, a recall stitching as to the nature of these vehicles is never too much. There are two types of hybrid vehicles : “classic” hybrids and rechargeable hybrids (plug-in hybridsor phev).
Those of the first category do not recharge on a dedicated plug or station and operate by combining a small electric motor, and another, more powerful, fully thermal. Most of the time, they roll thanks to combustion and therefore, thanks to petrol.
PHEVs, more recent than their counterparts and often more expensive, are designed to drive over a certain distance (generally between 40 and 60 km) in 100 % electric mode, provided you are recharged regularly on a domestic socket or a public terminal. On paper, they therefore benefit from the advantages of electric and thermal, but if their users chain the kilometers in thermal mode, without taking advantage of the electric motor, the carbon balance leans again on the wrong side.
In the field, reality is much less favorable according to the ICCT: according to their report, the classic hybrids only allow one Average drop by 20 % Greenhouse gas emissions on the entire life cycle of the vehicle, compared to an equivalent petrol car.
Rechargeable hybrids are a little better, with 30 % reductionbut only in optimal conditions of use; If we take the trouble to recharge them daily. According to the ICCT, PHEVs are much more often used in thermal mode than the opposite, which in fact, in many cases, of simple disguised thermal.
Regarding 100 % electric cars, they dig the gap faster and faster according to the ICCT. According to their data, an electric car sold today in Europe issues, throughout its life cycle, About 73 % of Co₂ less than a petrol model. A spectacular leap, compared to the 59 % recorded in 2021. ” Electric cars in Europe become cleaner, faster than expected and surpass all other technologies, including hybrids “Explains Marta Negri, researcher at ICCT.
A significantly higher yield, which is also due to the rapid decarbonization of the European electrical network. In 2020, renewable energies represented 38 % of the electricity produced in the Union. In 2025, this share should reach 56 %, and could climb up to 86 % by 2045. The more the electricity becomes capable of producing, the more the emissions of electric cars decrease over time, an advantage that no hybrid can catch up.
Hybrid: a facade solution for industry
Why then keep these vehicles in catalogs, even promote them? Because they allow manufacturers to stay in the nails of the regulations, without engaging in an industrial transition too abruptly.
Some do not hesitate to twist the figures to green their balance sheets. « Managers have manipulated hybrid emissions, sometimes knowingly “Said Georg Bieker, senior researcher at ICCT. It is here that the carbon footprint of the manufacture of a VE becomes a very easy to agitate scarecrow.
Yes, produce an electric vehicle generates more Co₂ than a petrol model (about 40 % more) but This additional cost is neutralized on average after 17,000 kmor barely a year for the majority of European drivers.
Hybrids and Phev may have had a transitional role in the ecological transition, but They no longer respond today to long -term climatic imperatives. Continuing to consider them as viable ecological solutions therefore amounts to maintaining a discourse which is no longer in connection with reality. For those who are really interested in data, doubt is no longer allowed: the only vehicles capable of reducing our emissions over time are the 100 % electric. Provided, of course, to accelerate the decarbonation of the electrical network and the sustainability of the batteries. Another point not discussed in the ICCT report: The rise of the huge electric SUVs. Replacing thermal with 2.5 -ton vehicles at the aerodynamics of a fridge has never been and will never be a good idea. These mastodons undermine largely the very credibility of the electric turn.
- The hybrids, classic or rechargeable, reduce emissions if they are compared to thermal models, especially if they are poorly used.
- Electric cars are widening the difference in emissions, carried by a better yield and an increasingly decarbon electrical network.
- The industry nevertheless continues to bet on the hybrid to delay the transition, even if it means maintaining a disconnected discourse of real data.
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