EDIT clarifications:

  • the article is from the European Commission. This thing comes from a serious study based on hard facts and data.
  • Check this comment by @wooster@startrek.website, who reported the data.
  • Note that plugin hybrids are still better than pure ice, but they were expected to be much better.

It's not a typo: plug-in hybrids are used, in real word cases, with ICE much more than anticipated.

In the EU, fuel consumption monitoring devices are required on new cars. They studied over 10% of all cars sold in 2021 and turns out they use way more fuel, and generate way more CO2, than anybody thought.

The gap means that CO2 emissions reduction objectives from transport will be more difficult to reach.

Thruth is, we need less cars, not "better" cars.

  • Wooster@startrek.website
    ·
    6 months ago

    When I saw the headline, I thought this was clickbait, since the headline and the linked article avoided quantifying how much CO2 the vehicles said they consumed vs the real world usage.

    *removed externally hosted image*

    If you dig into the cited materials, it turns out it wasn’t hyperbole.

    That said, I still consider it extremely poor form to omit the information the study was centering its argument around.

      • Wooster@startrek.website
        ·
        6 months ago

        To be fair, I’m really just judging the EC’s article writer. Not the trustworthiness of EC or the study itself.

      • niartenyaw@midwest.social
        ·
        edit-2
        6 months ago

        from what i understand, the real world hybrid data is significantly worse than its WLTP test data. so much worse that it's only a 25% improvement over petrol/diesel instead of the 75% improvement that would be expected given the WLTP.

  • D61 [any]
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    Well... the hybrid car thing makes sense. How many places are built to have charging stations everywhere you'd park your hybrid car?

    If you mange to afford buying/leasing/renting a hybrid car, that doesn't mean you can afford to build out a charging station at your own home. Hell, you may not even be allowed to modify your existing property even if you could afford it.

    So you wind up driving an electric car that is kept charged by a lawnmower engine burning gas instead of driving an electric car, charged from the power grid, with an emergency gas powered generator to increase your range or compensate for when the batteries' capacity degrades.

    • WalrusDragonOnABike [they/them]@reddthat.com
      ·
      6 months ago

      that doesn’t mean you can afford to build out a charging station at your own home.

      You you suggesting its normal for people to not have outlets at their house but own electric cars? Haven't outlets been standard for decades in homes?

      • D61 [any]
        ·
        6 months ago

        How many feet of extension cord will a home owners association let be seen drug out on the front lawn?

        What if there are no exterior outlets? You going to leave a window open with an extension cord fed through it? Maybe fine if you live somewhere without neighbors... probably a good way to get robbed otherwise.

        What is the exterior outlets were shittily installed and are aren't rated for whatever your particular flavor of electric vehicle you purchased?

        Live in an apartment complex? Not on the ground floor? You gonna bust out somebody's window to get to their outlet?

        • WalrusDragonOnABike [they/them]@reddthat.com
          ·
          6 months ago

          How many feet of extension cord will a home owners association let be seen drug out on the front lawn? PVC pipe and a small shovel are cheap. Easily fixed in an afternoon. Not exactly fun and assumes the person is physically able to do that.

          What if there are no exterior outlets? Most homes do, at least where I'm at. If they're in the back, that might not be practical still. Depending on the situation, adding a outlet could be less than $100. Which, if you can afford an electric car and gasoline, should be pretty affordable. But adding a dedicated circuit would certainly add more expense.

          You going to leave a window open with an extension cord fed through it? Maybe fine if you live somewhere without neighbors… probably a good way to get robbed otherwise.

          People put entire AC's in their windows. There's ways to ways to lock windows that are partially open 100% of the time.

          What is the exterior outlets were shittily installed and are aren’t rated for whatever your particular flavor of electric vehicle you purchased?

          If its just the outlets, fix it. A GCFI is like $20? So just replace them if they aren't already GCFI. Bigger issue is amps in the circuit. Unless it happens to be on a 20amp+ circuit, there's not really room for other things to run at the same time I think and it would probably be better off on its own. Also, if you have a lot of people there and have two vehicles you want to charge overnight, each would need its own circuit.

          Live in an apartment complex? Then its not your home to be building a charging station at. A lot of apartments in the last couple years around here have been adding charging stations (including the one I'm at).

          Of course situations vary. So, its not always practical or cheap. But you don't need a fancy level 2 charging station to charge a plug-in hybrid.

    • SSJ2Marx
      ·
      edit-2
      6 months ago

      I went looking for this a year or so back and I couldn't find any big study that looked at the lifetime emissions of motorcycles compared to cars, but the road emissions by themselves are generally about as bad because while there are fewer emissions from motorcycles, the emissions that exist are worse because the smaller engine doesn't burn the fuel as completely. The thing is a huge chunk of a car's lifetime emissions come from manufacturing, which I suspect makes motorcycles better, but again I never found that comprehensive study.