Anyone who buys an electric car, a plug-in hybrid or other vehicles with innovative drives in Germany will be supported by the state with an environmental bonus. For plug-in hybrids, the bonus is up to 6,750 euros – depending on the vehicle price. That will change soon. Because: The vehicles are less environmentally friendly than expected.
Plug-in hybrids consume more fuel than many combustion engines
The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) in Karlsruhe has found out that plug-in hybrids actually consume more fossil fuels than normal combustion engines. This is because the vehicles are very heavy due to the built-in battery. With the battery, you can drive up to 80 kilometers with electric drive. However, private individuals only drive on battery power 45 to 49 percent of the time, and on business trips it is only eleven to 15 percent of the time. However, around 70 percent of plug-in hybrids are company cars. This means that the heavier cars run more on fuel than intended. Instead of 1.6 or 1.7 liters per 100 kilometers, the hybrids consume 4.0 to 8.4 liters – depending on whether it is a company or private car. That is more than many combustion engines consume.
The ISI quotes study leader Patrick Plötz in a press release: “On average, the real fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of plug-in hybrid vehicles with private owners in Germany and other European countries are about three times as high as in the official test cycle, while the values at Company cars are even five times as high.”
What does the abolition of the premium mean for manufacturers?
“In order not to further increase the excess of the official emissions, funding instruments such as purchase bonuses and reduced company car taxation should be linked to proof of an electric driving share of around 80% or a consumption of around 2 liters per 100 km in real operation,” adds the ICCT director dr Peter Mock (International Council on Clean Transportation) the scientist with a recommendation to the federal government.
The traffic light is now actually implementing part of this recommendation, with the purchase bonus expiring at the end of the year. According to Business Insider, the market share of plug-in hybrids in Germany was 12.4 percent in 2021, and in July of this year it was said to have been over 14 percent. If this market share falls when the bonus is removed, the car manufacturers will most likely have to change their fleets. Because, as the information portal calculates: The BMW X5 45e (SUV) officially consumes an average of almost two liters of fuel per 100 kilometers, which means CO2 consumption of around 40 grams per kilometer. According to the law, the entire fleet may emit a maximum of 100 grams of CO2 per kilometer on average.
With the good test results, manufacturers improve fleet consumption
The manufacturers achieve this goal by offsetting the countless combustion engine sales with the good values of the plug-in hybrids. Business Insider speculates that this is the main reason the auto industry is so interested in hybrid models, with environmental friendliness playing a much smaller role. For example, BMW has 47 hybrids and just six electric models in its range, while Mercedes has 40 hybrids and five electric models.
If manufacturers with so many plug-in hybrids in their range sell fewer hybrids and even more combustion engines than they already do from January due to the abolition of the premium, it could become difficult to comply with the upper limits specified by the EU. Then all that remains is to produce more climate-friendly models – the environment is happy.
Tax benefits for plug-in company cars will remain in 2023
However, in addition to the purchase bonus, there are also tax advantages for hybrid drivers: the tax rate for hybrid company cars is not one, as is the case with combustion engines, but just 0.5 percent. While the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection writes on its FAQ page on the subject of electromobility that funding from January, as agreed in the coalition agreement, should only focus on motor vehicles “that have a proven positive climate protection effect”, the future of the tax concession will not themed. The Tagesschau reports that the tax benefits will remain.
What probably means a small glimmer of hope for BMW, Mercedes & Co. is not at all inspiring for the environmental organization Transport & Environment. In a press release, T&E Germany quotes its director as saying: “Plug-in hybrid company cars are usually inefficient luxury cars that are hardly ever driven electronically. The fact that they even get tax breaks is absurd. We, as taxpayers, are subsidizing that a climate sham.” So the argument about hybrid vehicles is hardly over yet.
Olga Rogler / Editor finanzen.net
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