Hybrid cars made sense. At least in the United States, where diesel cars were almost banned due to strict pollution measures. On the contrary, Europe encouraged the use of diesel in passenger cars, until “Dieselgate” exploded, and we all know the result.
In the US, hybrids were perceived as less polluting than their own ICE counterparts While they were only a fraction of total sales, they didn’t bother anyone. But then electric Teslas disrupted the industry and things got crazy.
Suddenly, electric cars were the good guys and everyone else was the bad guys. When driven, battery electric vehicles were zero emissions, while internal combustion vehicles emitted harmful pollutants and CO2 causing global warming.
Above all, some activists began to shout louder and louder “Electrify everything!” and “Remove the oil!“. Then the 2015 Paris Agreement shook up the industry, as countries pledged to dramatically reduce emissions and transition to net-zero economies by mid-century.
Everything pointed to the end of oil in the auto industry. The end of a trillion dollar business, with a few nations and corporations controlling the market. An end of an era for which no one was prepared, neither the defenders of fossil fuels, nor renewables.
So how is the status quo maintained?
One way is to trick people into believing things that aren’t entirely true. Let’s see: electric cars are labeled as zero emissions. What is its most important feature that the general public is most aware of? That is, using a cable to connect the car to a socket or a charging station.
There you go, here’s your easy-to-understand and easy-to-remember statement: Connected cars are green cars. In a broader sense, ALL connected cars are green cars. Including plug-in hybrids, because, you know, they’re equipped with batteries and electric motors. And they also offer an all-electric, zero-emissions range, and have cables to connect and charge the battery.
Oh, and don’t forget the car manufacturers’ subterfuge regarding plug-in hybrids’ consumption and emissions values. It was really genius and the people and the authorities just bought it. I remember the popular Chevrolet Volt and the debate I had with the GM engineers. Oh, I was so close to being thrown under the bus for arguing that official consumption values were misleading.
In the US, the car had an official fuel economy of over 230 mpg. In Europe, its consumption value was only 1.2 l/100 km. And CO2 emissions were just 16g/mile or 27g/km. Fascinating! And at the same time incredible. So where’s the catch?
The answer lies in the units of measurement of consumption: miles per gallon in the US, and liters per hundred kilometers in Europe. the 16-kWh The lithium-ion battery was good for a maximum of 80 km (50 miles) of electric range. When the battery died, the car was using the internal combustion engine to burn gasoline for the remaining 20 km (12.5 mi).
So the values were true during THE FIRST 100 km (62 miles). If the Volt traveled further than that, its complicated drivetrain was simply a hybrid. And this meant higher consumption and emission values, closer to a Toyota Prius.
I later had the opportunity to drive an Opel Ampera, the rebadged Volt for Europe, on a 5,000 km (3,000 mile) European road trip. In the end, the on-board computer showed an average consumption of more than 6 l/100 km (about 40 mpg). I charged the battery only a few times, so the total electric range was about 200 km (125 miles), which was the percentage of the entire road trip.
Of course, a plug-in hybrid like the Volt made sense for the commute. As long as you could charge at home overnight or at the office during the day, there was a good chance the car could be used as an electric car. And all the statistics were in favor of the daily use of connected cars.
Except the theory is far from reality
Recent studies showed that owners of connected cars rarely charge their batteries. The vast majority of drivers fill up the fuel tank and then simply use the cars as hybrids until the tank is empty. You can blame the lack of charging infrastructure, but studies showed that it’s more likely to be blamed on the laziness of the owners.
But there’s more to it. Every time I tried a plug-in hybrid, I noticed that using the E.V The mode requires you to adapt your driving style to “Calm down man, where’s the rush?!“It had literally hundreds of fossil fuel-hungry horsepower under the hood, but a very shy electric motor and a small lithium-ion battery to move a two-ton car, usually the SUV friendly
Again, in theory, it was fine for city traffic. But every time I pressed the pedal a little harder, the internal combustion engine was taking over and my emissions-free ride was suddenly over. In my opinion, you simply cannot use a plug-in hybrid as an EV without stress.
Automakers emphasize plug-in hybrid bivalence: for daily commutes, it’s more of an electric vehicle, while for long trips it’s more of a hybrid. And, compared to electric vehicles, there is no range anxiety when traveling hundreds of km or miles. Because, you know, you can fill up the tank in a couple of minutes. Amazing!
A few years ago, I decided on plug-in hybrids. They are just crap. Their theoretical advantages do not justify their more complicated and expensive technology compared to non-plug-in hybrids or even ICE cars. It’s a lose-lose scenario.
But plug-in hybrids serve the oil industry well
Fact: The automobile industry uses more than half of the oil produced worldwide. Fact: Oil industry forecasts consistently point out that internal combustion engines will be around well into the year 2100. Truth: The oil industry is choosing profits over climate change mitigation.
If your brain can be easily confused into believing”electrified vehicles” is the same as “electric vehicles”, the show can go on. The term “connector” is a great tool. It is the most effective greenwashing tool when it comes to car sales charts.
Let’s take a look at the top selling car manufacturers connected vehicles in 2022:
- VW Group: 0.8 million units
- GM & Wuling: 0.6 million units
- Stellantis: 0.5 million units
Let’s now see the top car manufacturers that have sold the most fully electric vehicles in 2022:
- VW Group: 0.6 million units
- GM & Wuling: 0.6 million units
- Hyundai Motor: 0.4 million units
In the first chart, Tesla is only second, as Chinese automaker BYD sold 41% more connected cars. Tesla is the leading manufacturer of electric cars, and you can clearly see this in the second chart, where BYD sold 30% fewer electric cars.
These may seem unimportant details, but in the big picture they maintain the impression that ICEs are part of a greener future. This is not the case, as mixing plug-in hybrids with all-electric cars on purpose has a negative impact on reducing emissions in the transport sector. Subsidizing plug-in hybrids was a big mistake, but it looks like policymakers are finally getting it right.
one more thing We should also stop using HEVs and PHEV abbreviations It’s nonsense. Both the Hybrid Electric vehicle and plug-in are mainly based on internal combustion engines. They make too little use of electric motors and batteries.
So the more appropriate acronyms would be HICEV and PHICEV, where ICEV is for Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles… Wait a second, have I fallen for a trap? No matter what “EV” comes from, popular wisdom already regards it as an acronym for electric vehicle.
I feel very silly when I realize that the short form of Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle is ICEV.
