NOTICE in Portugal for the “front” of plug-in hybrid cars

The trend in the automotive segment has been on electric mobility. Sales of electric or semi-electric cars have skyrocketed in Portugal, partly due to the “blame” of state support.

However, Associação Zero warns that “frontal” plug-in hybrid cars are as polluting or more polluting than conventional cars.

In a recently published statement, A ZERO warns of serious deficiencies in the regulation of CO2 emissions applied to new car sales in the European Union (EU).
The association reveals it around half of the electric cars sold in the EU are plug-in hybrids - so considered because they have low ranges in electric mode, are rarely loaded, have powerful internal combustion engines, and are often large and heavy too (many are SUVs), which makes them CO emissions in practice2two to four times higher than those counted in the tests.
Furthermore, the European regulation provides for the attribution of benefits to car manufacturers from the sale of these cars.
Worrying trend in the Portuguese electricity market
In this scenario, ZERO analyzed the sales data in Portugal in 2020 of electric light passenger vehicles published by UVE - Association of Users of Electric Vehicles, and concluded that theup to September, the total sales of electric cars accumulated since the beginning of the year have grown by about 38% compared to the same period in 2019.
These sales are in counter-cycle with total passenger car sales, which fell by 39% due to the pandemic.
"Worrying" is the increase in the number of plug-in hybrid cars until September and the corresponding decrease in the share of electric vehicles to 100%.
During this period, 6882 plug-in hybrid cars and 5470 100% electric cars were sold, corresponding to a distribution of 56% for plug-in hybrids and 44% for 100% electric;  this is the opposite of distribution in 2019, where 100% electric had about 55% of this market share.
In doing so, plug-in hybrids gained ground as their sales more than doubled in 2020 compared to 2019, with 100% electric sales down 3%.  By comparison, in the EU in the first six months of the year, the sales of 100% electric cars driven by electricity, with a share of 52%, although lower than in 2019 (66%), and its sales compared to 2019 they increased 40%.

After all what is the problem with plug-in hybrids?

The plug-in hybrids sold on the domestic market are, to a large extent, `` front '' electric cars, cars of the premium segment - the brands that sell the most are, in that order, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volvo -, with actual emissions exceeding 200 gCO2 / km, equal to or greater than those of an ordinary internal combustion car;
These sales of plug-in hybrids are not at the expense of sales of conventional vehicles, but at the expense of sales of 100% electric cars, these vehicles without direct CO2 emissions and pollutants.

ZERO warns of the need for the Government to review these fiscal mechanisms in the State Budget to 2021, making them more selective, in order to stop supporting polluting technologies.