The European Commission has carried out a study revealing that cars consume and emit up to 20% more than the official approved averages. This gap is even greater for plug-in hybrid cars, as users are “not currently exploiting their potential”.
A long-standing debate on approved consumption
The approved average consumption has always been the subject of debate because, in real driving conditions, the figures are higher than those obtained by car manufacturers during the homologation protocols, which in Europe is WLTP. Indeed, in 2017, the old NEDC standard was replaced by the current WLTP standard because the latter offers more realistic approval figures.
A study reveals a gap of 20% between real and approved consumption
Now, a report carried out by the European Commission has revealed that the actual fuel consumption of cars is 20% higher than the official figures, i.e. those indicated in the approval documents.
This study takes into account the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions figures of new vehicles registered in 2021 in the European Union and compares them to the actual figures to find that there is a difference of 19.1% (1, 5 l/100 km) in the case of petrol cars, and 15.4% (1.1 l/100 km) in the case of diesel cars.
An even more marked gap for plug-in hybrids
By adding the two types of vehicles (diesel and gasoline), the average approved consumption based on the WLTP protocol is 6.13 l/100 km, while the actual consumption is 7.44 l/100 km, or 17. 6% more.
These differences are even greater when it comes to plug-in hybrid cars. According to this study, the approved average for plug-in hybrid vehicles, whether equipped with a gasoline or diesel engine, is 1.69 l/100 km, while the average obtained in real driving conditions is 5. 94 l/100 km, or 71.5% more.
Actual CO2 emissions up to 3.5 times higher than approval for plug-in hybrids
The same goes for approved CO2 emissions compared to actual figures, with petrol cars emitting 23.7% more (34.6 g/km CO2) than the approved average, while for diesels this difference is 18.1% (27.8 g/km).
For plug-in hybrids, actual CO2 emissions were 3.5 times higher than the approved average (100 g/km), which, according to the European Commission, “confirms that these cars are not currently exploiting their potential, in particular because that they are not recharged and driven in all-electric mode as often as they should be.
WLTP halved the gap compared to NEDC
Despite the disparity between the approved consumption and emissions averages and those obtained in real driving, the European Commission emphasizes that the replacement of the old NEDC with the new WLTP test procedure has “halved the gap”, since in 2017, cars consumed and emitted around 40% more than the approved averages.
On the other hand, the entity highlights the “wide difference” that exists in the case of heavier vehicles, such as SUVs and luxury cars, whose emissions are already “significantly higher” than those of other cars.
For the European Commission, this is a difference that “could worsen the effects of trends observed in the vehicle fleet, where the average size and weight of vehicles have increased, reducing the effects of improvements in energy efficiency” .
This study highlights the importance of taking into account the real conditions of vehicle use, beyond just approval figures, in order to better assess their environmental impact and guide sustainable mobility policies.
It was an open secret, but the European Commission has confirmed it: the real fuel consumption of cars is 20% higher than official figures
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