An analysis of 2024 European Environment Agency data from 220,000 monitored vehicles found that plug-in hybrids averaged 145 g/km of CO₂ in real-world driving, compared with 24 g/km in official tests about six times higher. The gap has steadily widened from 3.4× in 2021 to 6× in 2024.
The data highlights how real-world driving can differ significantly from laboratory figures, making accurate emissions testing important for evaluating PHEVs.
PHEV emissions report: “Six times higher.”
EV driver: “That’s one software update I don’t want.”
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