The PHEV Charging Studies Don’t Apply To America

A bunch of people have sent me links to reporting around a “bombshell” study from Europe. Apparently PHEVs in the wild consume more gas than the WLTP rankings say they should. Two things: No s**t Sherlock. But also: Back that high-speed train up, we’re not talkin’ ’bout ‘Murica!

If you didn’t know, Transport & Environment published a paper called “Smoke screen: the growing PHEV emissions scandal” where they show that real-world vehicle emissions are higher than WLTP estimates. This shouldn’t be too surprising since WLTP numbers are insane. Everyone complains about the EPA numbers not living up to reality, but WLTP range and economy numbers typically paint a picture that’s 18-22% rosier than the EPA numbers. 

But WLTP vs reality aside, there’s a bigger problem: company cars. In the EU, over 63% of new cars on the road are being purchased by employers as an employee benefit, and that number is rising rapidly. Why? It’s all about taxes. The details are unimportant, but due to the way laws are written in the EU, PHEVs offer a magic combination of tax benefits and a company car that doesn’t “need” to be plugged in. Also, the company doesn’t need to provide charging for all those company-owned PHEVs…

Now, why doesn’t this apply to the US market? Because less than 1% of new car registrations here are “company” cars as there’s essentially no tax benefit from this anymore. This means that here, PHEV shoppers are buying a PHEV because they want one. (Some might be buying a 4xE Wrangler because of the cool teal recovery hooks, or the 5.6-second 0-60 of course) While we don’t have much data on PHEV behaviour in the USA, what little data we do have paints a different picture. GM and Ford’s data on their first-generation PHEVs indicated that 50-63% of their driving was 100% electric. Sadly Toyota, Stellantis, Hyundai/Kia and other companies won’t address the same data today, but JD Power’s survey data paints a similar picture with the average PHEV owner plugging in 5.5 days a week. (Basically charging for the commute.)

Now what’s not often reported in the EU data is just as interesting. Private PHEV owners in Europe are just about as likely to plug in as American PHEV owners, and their emissions are much closer to the WLTP estimates. 

So what’s the actual headline? Buying a PHEV for someone that doesn’t give a crap about PHEVs or plugging them in doesn’t lead anywhere good. I think Sherlock said that…