Electric Vehicles Prove More Efficient And Cost Effective As New Data Challenges Hybrid Performance

“In recent months, South Africa’s market has been seeing an increased uptake of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), yet these vehicles combine the worst of both worlds,” says Hiten Parmar, executive director of The Electric Mission. “While these might address perceived range anxiety concerns, they are counter to the claimed benefits as marketed by vehicle manufacturers.”

The evidence from real world data proves that when driven in electric mode, plug-in hybrids' energy consumption is higher than for a battery-electric vehicle. When driven in combustion mode, both their consumption and CO2 emissions are higher than for a conventional combustion engine vehicle, up to five times higher than advertised – and the gap keeps increasing quickly. The end result is that consumers are paying for their inefficiency.

“The hybrid design comes at a significant cost,” says Parmar. “The additional weight drives inefficiency, and the costs to run the vehicle are much higher than a battery electric, as it must adhere to standard internal combustion maintenance cycles, and carry both a battery and a fuel tank. The primary goal of zero emission vehicles is to reduce the levels of local air pollution, especially in urban environments, and this is far less effective with hybrids. Battery electric and fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV) are simply more capable of helping to improve air quality in cities.”

The reality, though, is that even the entry-level battery electric model available in South Africa today is capable of comfortably covering the most common distances required for daily use. Home-based charging is the most cost-effective and convenient method for charging electric vehicles.