(Geneva) The Swiss canton of Valais removed subsidies for plug-in hybrid vehicles following a report which showed that they offered few benefits in terms of emissions and fuel consumption on mountainous roads.
Posted at 12:55
This study was carried out at the request of the Valais authorities by the company Impact Living, a company which is active as an assistant owner.
According to this study, the quantitative results (measurements of real fuel consumption) show that plug-in hybrid vehicles “are very far from their promises and have only very slight advantages (if any) compared to a conventional combustion engine”.
One of the study’s authors, Marc Muller, an energy engineer, told Swiss public radio RTS that these vehicles are “a CO-standards scam.2, climate objectives and consumers! “.
The study shows that plug-in hybrids, in the reality of the topography of Valais, a very mountainous region, “emit up to almost four times more CO2 that announced ”by the manufacturers.
According to the study, “even a driver with charging stations at home and at work and making short trips does not reach the values of the manufacturers”.
“Hybrid vehicles are often advertised by manufacturers as 1.5-2.5 liter vehicles per 100 kilometers, but in reality they consume between 4 and 7 liters, like diesel vehicles,” Muller said. , at RTS.
Subsidies canceled
Valais, which funded the Impact Living study, has already removed subsidies for these vehicles.
In 2020, the NGO Transport & Environment (T & E) which analyzed the behavior of three of the best-selling models this year, had already affirmed the CO emissions2 plug-in hybrid vehicles remain superior to what the manufacturers officially announce.
Studies by the NGO International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) have also concluded that CO emissions2 in real conditions plug-in hybrids were generally higher than the measurements communicated during their approval process.
For many experts, the plug-in hybrid combines the worst of the two worlds, namely the drawbacks of heat engines (air pollution) and those of electric motors (high weight and price due to the two engines).
When they are not regularly recharged, these cars suffer from very high consumption. But, used correctly, and for some drivers who combine long distances on highways and urban use, the plug-in hybrid remains an alternative to diesel, fallen out of favor since the scandal of the rigged engines of Volkswagen.