It has always been said that the hybrid car is an ecological vehicle and well postulated for the environment. However, it is also true that there have been studies that have shown how this class of car, including the plug-in hybrid, would be polluting even more than a diesel or gasoline, like any other. But then why does it bear the blue Zero Emissions distinction?
The hybrid car does not reflect its real emissions
Hybrid vehicles are a variation of electric and traditional vehicles, so that their emissions of polluting gases into the atmosphere are reduced. But to what extent are these emissions reduced? And there are other aspects of these vehicles that influence a reduction in pollution, since some of their materials are also less polluting.
However, in recent times it has been made clear that the hybrid car would not be as well postulated as presumed, even though they carry the blue environmental label of zero emissions, the blue (in the plug-in and that these have a range greater than the 40 kilometers).
In that sense, this type of vehicle has settled in the catalogs of dealerships with brands that are strongly committed to this option, wrapped up under a very powerful green marketing in times of climate emergency. However, to what extent do these types of vehicles help reduce emissions? This is what the OCU has revealed, which reveals that the ECO and Zero emissions labels associated with these cars do not reflect the actual emissions.
What happens
All in all, what the Organization of Consumers and Users denounces is that some of these high-powered hybrid cars that have an ECO label -they run on a mixture of gasoline and electricity or autogas- pollute more than other cars with a C label, which work with gasoline, but they are more modern.
There, together with Green EuroNCAP, the OCU has carried out an exhaustive study of up to 147 car models from recent years with different environmental labels. This has shown that, among those that do not comply with the agreed emissions level, 38% are hybrid models, which currently have the Zero label .
Specifically, the study focuses on the reality of plug-in hybrids (PHEV) that have burst onto the market with force due to their promising characteristics, halfway between internal combustion and one hundred percent electric mobility.
However, these vehicles qualified with the zero emissions badge are not the least harmful to the environment as their labels advertise. The clearest examples, on the other hand, are seen with models such as the Mercedes GLE and the Porsche Cayenne e-hybrid, large cars with powerful engines, which means that, when the electric autonomy ceases (at 40 kilometers), they pollute more than other combustion models.
What must be considered
The problem with plug-in hybrids is that the homologated figure they achieve is the result of the consumption of the first 100 km that the car travels in the test, all those that are carried out a posteriori until the next recharge is made will be in hybrid mode and Naturally, they will spend more .
Keep in mind that hybrids have to support the additional weight , which the combustion-only versions do not have, of the batteries with which they are equipped. The most powerful and heaviest, around 100 kilos, are those of the plug-in hybrids with more autonomy and between 8 and 10 KWh,
As such, and on paper, the hybrid car has the ECO label because it has a small auxiliary electrical system, and it should not be enough since the emission reduction is very little. Therefore, OCU denounces that it is an unfair system, because it is based on engine technologies and not on the actual emissions of the vehicles, and although the labeling system was a good first step, they say that it should be carried out correctly. .
The study points, for its part, to the “inconsistencies” of the label system, which does not take into account the size or weight of the vehicles, so that low-consumption utility cars are penalized compared to hybrid SUVs that, due to their weight, tend to consume more when they circulate without the electric motor, which is why a revision of the system for granting environmental labels is demanded to classify vehicles by their real environmental impact.
