Enlarge image
Plug-in hybrid when charging
Photo: Christoph Soeder / picture alliance / dpa
They should offer the best of the past and the future. Plug-in hybrids purr in the city electrically, emission-free and silently, and speed on long journeys with the combustion engine on the autobahn. With their flexibility, they are an important building block for the »success of electromobility,« said the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). "In the first half of 2021 alone, plug-in hybrids made up over 50 percent of newly registered vehicles with electric drives."
In theory, you can save fuel and reduce CO2 emissions.
In fact, the hermaphrodites combine the worst of both engine worlds: The high weight of the batteries for the electric drive meets climate-damaging internal combustion engines.
Anyone who does not charge their plug-in hybrid and only drives the electric motor around as additional ballast will therefore not produce fewer, but more emissions.
And that is not the exception, but rather the rule.
Nevertheless, car manufacturers can have the sham packages credited as a contribution to climate protection.
Berlin and Brussels not only explicitly allow this - the plug-in hybrids are also given extra funding.
First there are purchase premiums for the purchase, then tax discounts, especially for company cars on top of that.
A higher weight lowers the CO2 limit values
Without plug-in hybrids, car manufacturers such as BMW and Mercedes would not even come close to achieving the emission reduction targets defined by the European Union, according to a new study by the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E), which specializes in traffic.
That is why fewer electric cars can be sold than would be necessary to reduce emissions - the manufacturers are still doing well on paper.
"Without these loopholes, vehicle manufacturers would have to sell 840,000 more all-electric cars this year in order to achieve their targets," the study says.
The preference for plug-in hybrids even threatens to stifle the current electric car boom next year.
The regulation therefore contradicts the EU directive on the promotion of climate-friendly vehicles.
The study points to a further absurdity of the current legislation: "If manufacturers sell heavy vehicles, they have to comply with lower CO2 fleet limits." Overweight SUVs with plug-in hybrids are therefore worth two or three times over for manufacturers, only when they make a profit and returns and then also in the carbon footprint.
Higher emissions despite technical progress
Higher weight and more horsepower also ensure that, despite technical advances in engine development and increased efficiency, the average emissions of new vehicles with internal combustion engines hardly fall - and in some cases even rise.
"For example, petrol and diesel from Daimler have higher emissions than the models from five years ago," writes T&E.
»Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW advertise themselves as environmentally friendly, but behind this facade they use every little loophole to delay the switch to emission-free vehicles.
Now that the EU is revising its climate targets for manufacturers, politicians have the chance to put an end to this hypocrisy, "said T&E Germany boss Stef Cornelis.
The NGO considers the current CO2 limit values to be too lax and fears that the share of electric cars in new vehicle sales will not continue to rise as much as would be necessary to achieve the climate targets.
The limit values for 2025 were so "weak" that manufacturers will reach them two years earlier, according to the study.
"That will lead to stagnation in sales of electric vehicles."
The traffic light could put an end to the hustle and bustle
The traffic light parties are also talking about the plug-in hybrids in their coalition negotiations. While the FDP is otherwise slowing down on climate protection in traffic and has rejected a reform of the commuter allowance and a speed limit on motorways, things could go ahead here. The key word is the reduction of subsidies: "We are spending one billion euros in subsidies for plug-in vehicles that have no secure ecological benefit," said party leader Christian Lindner at the start of the talks.
For a long time it was an open secret that many companies order the plug-in SUVs and limousines in order to take away the purchase bonus and secure tax gifts for their employees.
That the charging cables often gather dust in their original packaging in the trunk and are never plugged in - a free gift.
For more than a year, data beyond hearsay has also been available.
At that time, the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) presented a study on the use of plug-in hybrids in everyday life.
The result: "On average, the real fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of plug-in hybrid vehicles for private owners in Germany are more than twice as high as in the official test cycle, while the values for company cars are even four times as high," said the head of the study Patrick Plötz.
For the time being, a mini-reform of funding is planned in this country, which was initiated by the old government.
From next October, plug-in hybrids must be able to drive at least 60 kilometers electrically in order to qualify for the purchase bonus, and 80 kilometers from 2024.
But that would not solve the basic problem either: Each driver has to charge the battery himself.
