Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 9, 2025
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Hybrid cars release far more carbon dioxide than their official ratings indicate and should not qualify as low-emission vehicles to meet European Union targets, a report by transport research and campaign group T&E said on Wednesday.
European auto executives are expected to air their complaints about EU CO2 emissions targets at a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday to discuss the EU sector's future.
In a letter two weeks ago, the two main EU automobile associations said plug-in electric vehicles would play a vital role and urged Brussels not to tighten rules on them.
T&E said data from the European Environmental Agency showed real-world emissions were more than 130 grams of CO2 per kilometre for PHEV models, equivalent to a mid-size petrol car and nearly five times the official values of less than 30.
"Plug-in hybrids are being marketed as low-emission vehicles, but actually if you compare them to petrol cars in real-world performance, they're very, very similar," said T&E executive director William Todts.
T&E said a main cause for the discrepancy between real-world and official ratings was an overly optimistic assessment of the share of vehicle operations powered only by electricity - known as the utility factor.
The Commission plans to revise this in 2025/2026 and 2027/28, when T&E said the gap would narrow, although real-world emissions would still be 18% above official figures.
T&E said the changes should persuade automakers to increase the range of batteries in hybrids to make them more electric.
In 2024, while EU new electric vehicle sales dropped to a 13.6% market share, plug-in and other hybrids made up 38%, according to EU automaker association ACEA.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop)
