While most hybrids are said to use one to two litres of fuel per 100km, a study claims they need six litres on average
Plug-in hybrid electric cars (PHEVs) use much more fuel on the road than officially stated by their manufacturers, a large-scale analysis of about a million vehicles of this type has shown.
The Fraunhofer Institute carried out what is thought to be the most comprehensive study of its kind to date, using the data transmitted wirelessly by PHEVs from a variety of manufacturers while they were on the road.
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According to the study, the vehicles require on average six litres per 100km, or about 300%, more fuel to run than previously cited.
The scientists of the Fraunhofer Institute found that the main reason for the higher-than-stated fuel usage was due precisely to the fact that the PHEVs use two different modes, the electric engine and the combustion engine, switching between both. Until now it has been claimed by manufacturers that the vehicles used only a little or almost no fuel when in the electric mode. The studies showed that this was not in fact the case.
I guess it’s just that 300% on average seems like a lot, y’know? Like, if the average iPhone user was getting just 8 hours of an advertised 24, people would be pretty pissed. They’d probably ask for testing that better reflects real-world usage ;)
But if 50% of iPhone users are professional mobile gamers, their utilization is an outlier skewing the sample. I’d like to see the population in the sample for this study. For the average PHEV driver, they probably get close to the mfg estimate when driven as expected but the generalized data encompasses non standard users.
ICE vehicle manufacturers don’t give MPG estimates based on burning out at every stop light, driving with various octane fuels, or many other factors that can effect fuel economy. They give estimates based on a certain usage. I have a Subaru WRX and average 2-3 more mpg than mfg estimates on hwy usage. That difference is in my favor, but it still shows that estimates are just estimates based on a baseline use.
If Apple were dismissing half their users as outliers, I still think people would be pretty pissed…
Based on what though? Is this just an assumption?
Unfortunately (and annoyingly), the Guardian doesn’t link to the study. I took a quick look and found a similar study from 2022 (PDF) but nothing recent. Their conclusions are similar and they do differentiate between private and fleet vehicles.
Yea. All of my theories on this are just based on assumption. Everything I mentioned is probable and at some degree does play a part in the numbers. Some people drive crazy, some don’t charge, etc. There are some other anecdotes in this thread that support some of my claims. One comment mentioned a PHEV driver thought the battery recharged while driving, not knowing it needs to be plugged in. That’s certainly a more extreme case, but I would imagine there a lots of users that drive too long between charges. IF that is happening widespread, then people are using the vehicles outside of mfg specs. We don’t know the exact reason and probably never will get that sort of detail, but it’s a possibility, and if it’s true, that would take the liability off of the mfg imo. All speculation though.
Well, I think we both effectively said our bits. Fun disagreeing with you. Cheers 🍻
Outrage seems to be inversely proportional to experienced convenience, not necessarily performance disparity.