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Mercedes GLE 350:
Like plug-in hybrids, SUVs are particularly heavy - and benefit from special regulations
Photo: Dieter Rebmann DaimlerAG - Global Communications Mercedes-Benz Cars Global photos by Dieter Rebmann on behalf of Daimler AG / Daimler AG
According to a study, the German carmaker Daimler and BMW never miss an opportunity to achieve their emissions targets by selling apparently "electric" plug-in hybrids. This is the conclusion reached by the Transport & Environment (T&E) organization, which brings together several European environmental associations.
The car manufacturers use a special rule that was adopted across the EU at the time under pressure from the federal government. When manufacturers sell heavy vehicles, they generally have to comply with less stringent CO2 fleet limits. This rule was justified by the fact that manufacturers need such "flexibility". In practice, however, it is a loophole and a regulation that positively promotes the sale of high-emission SUVs and heavy plug-in hybrids, according to the authors of the study. The data from T&E show that Daimler and BMW would not achieve their EU targets for 2021 without this regulation.
Not only SUVs, but also plug-in hybrids are controversial.
Hybrids are heavier than comparable vehicles with internal combustion engines, as they have both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor.
The additional weight of the electric motor and the battery ensure that plug-in hybrids - if they are not charged - actually emit more CO2 than vehicles with traditional combustion engines.
But the sale of heavy SUVs and heavy plug-in hybrids is now ensuring that automakers have more leeway when it comes to CO2 emissions.
Without these special rules for heavy cars and other loopholes, vehicle manufacturers in Europe would have to sell 840,000 more all-electric cars this year to meet their targets, the T&E study said.
"Daimler, Volkswagen AG and BMW use every little loophole to delay the switch to emission-free vehicles," explained
Stef Cornelis
, Director of T&E Germany.
The organization is therefore calling for stricter CO2 fleet limits at EU level.
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