To provide sound advice to businesses, experience in the field brings a considerable advantage. Before becoming a consultant at PCDM Automotive, Patrick Martinoli piloted the Orange fleet for more than ten years. On March 8, in partnership with the magazine Automotive Fleets, this professional hosted a webinar on plug-in hybrid vehicles. Cars tested by Orange since 2012. The operator’s fleet now has 2,000 electrified models (simple hybrid, plug-in hybrid or all-electric).
In 2021, plug-in hybrids accounted for 9% of car sales in Europe. Crucial advantage compared to all-electric models, they have a heat engine capable of taking over when the batteries are discharged. “Today, all manufacturers are converting to plug-in hybrids, observes Patrick Martinoli. Its partial operation in electric mode allows it to display very interesting certification values. And the combined power of the two engines offers sports model performance, while limiting CO2 emissions. »
Plug in twice a day
More dynamic, the rechargeable hybrid combines the advantages of thermal and electric without being limited by battery life on the longest journeys. Another interest, it conveys a flattering image. On the business side, it displays its efforts in terms of environmental responsibility.
The other side of the coin, it must be recharged daily in order to be able to express all its capacities. “If the distance from home to work exceeds 25 kilometers, it must be plugged in twice a day,” insists the professional. Another disadvantage, the plug-in hybrid is not considered an electric vehicle and is classified, with thermal models, in the Crit’Air 1 sticker.
Above all, this technology is the subject of much criticism today. “In question, the new WLTP certification cycle which does not allow exact verification of consumption when the battery is empty”, explains Patrick Martinoli. A new calculation method is under study, but should not come into effect before 2025.
The discrepancy between the WLTP data and the analysis results in real use is particularly instructive. For use for four years over 80,000 kilometres, the comparison between the petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid versions of a Peugeot 3008 shows respective fuel consumption of 6.5 l/100 km, 5.2 l/100 km and 1.4l/100km. As for CO emissions2, they amount to 146 g/km, 135 g/km and 30 g/km. Figures that double for the plug-in hybrid when it is used and tested, in real conditions, at 60% in electric mode and 40% on the internal combustion engine: consumption and emissions amount to 3.2 l/100 km and 72 g/km. With exclusively thermal use, by drivers who do not recharge the batteries, these data jump to 8 l/100 km and 180 g/km of CO2.
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