A Hybrid Future For Europe?

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

As I reported earlier this week, the EU has now formally abandoned its 2035 ban on the sale of new petrol/diesel cars.

Instead there will be a requirement to reduce vehicle emissions by 90% from 2021 levels. It seems a lot, but is it really?

The 2021 baseline for passenger cars was approximately 110 g CO2/km, so the 2035 target will be around 11kg. But currently, manufacturers have already managed to cut to 93.6 g.

Undoubtedly this change of plan will be a massive boost for hybrid cars.

The Volkswagen Golf hybrid is said to emit 25 g/km, compared to 115 g/km for the diesel. Large scale rollout of plug in hybrids will therefore take manufacturers much closer to their 2035 targets.

Obviously there will still be increased sales of EVs, which will help close the difference.

There is also the exploitation of e-fuels, synthetic or made from waste oil, which will also presumably be classified as “carbon free”.

Above all this change of policy will allow the European motor industry to escape the bullet and carry on making ICE cars indefinitely.

It is not insignificant that the Telegraph article reported:

“Michael Lohscheller, the chief executive of Swedish EV manufacturer ‌Polestar, added: “Moving from a clear 10pc zero-emissions target to 90pc may seem small, but if we backtrack now, we won’t just hurt the climate. We’ll hurt Europe’s ability to compete.”

The big losers will be Chinese EV makers like Polestar!

There is one more huge hole in the EU logic.

The fuel consumption and emissions for all hybrid cars assumes a mix of battery and engine use. The Golf hybrid’s battery only has a range of 88 miles – more like 50 in practice. Many drivers won’t necessarily have to ability to charge at home.

The likely result is that many will simply carry on using hybrids as if they were bog-standard petrol cars. They will run wholly on petrol, which will emit just as much CO2 as the petrol version does!

Officially, hybrids will count as low-emission. In practice, they will not reduce emissions one jot.

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strativarius
December 23, 2025 2:15 am

plug in hybrids 

we won’t just hurt the climate

I wouldn’t recommend a plug in hybrid in the UK… not with our Rachel from Accounts; who hasn’t a clue about anything in the real world. Hurt the climate? Oh you nasty humans…

Reply to  strativarius
December 23, 2025 4:54 am

A. WHY does she appear to work at (be reporting from?) a Home Depot or Sam’s Club?

B. What year was the odometer invented?

strativarius
Reply to  _Jim
December 23, 2025 5:14 am

It’s their way of appearing to stay “in touch with industries/businesses/factories/working people etc”. That’s the power [in their mind] of the photo op. See how we care [for the herd].

An odometer for measuring distance was described by Vitruvius during the 1st century BC. Other than that some say Alexander the Great. Either way, before Christ.

Reply to  strativarius
December 23, 2025 5:21 am

Pedometer; Its a thing too. (A) (I feel like I am informing Grok on this. Side Q: Have you ever had a discussion with Grok on any issue?)

B. Is she / are most pols unaware of the presence of odometers on vehicle, hence the need for an additional Satnav/GPS would be redundant (aside from pricing per specific route geolocation provided via Satnav).

There are also laws in most developed countries against odometer tampering too (ahem, not that it prevents said activity.)

strativarius
Reply to  _Jim
December 23, 2025 5:40 am

I don’t need AI.

Do you, really?

As I said in my OP, Rachel from Accounts; who hasn’t a clue about anything in the real world. 

That’s true, it most certainly isn’t hyperbole.

Reply to  strativarius
December 23, 2025 5:48 am

I asked you verbatim: “Have you ever had a discussion with Grok on any issue?” I have, on subjects I DISAGREED with Grok. Grok, it turns out, is quite pedantic …

I didn’t say I needed, or asked a question of Grok.

Side Q: Have you by any chance been diagnosed as a pedant? I’m getting those vibes … I might have to resort to using <strativarius> and <humor> HTML tags surrounding my posts if so.

Read and study this axiom (maybe even learn it?): “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Perhaps you have never heard of it, Pedant?

strativarius
Reply to  _Jim
December 23, 2025 6:17 am

I asked you verbatim: “Have you ever had a discussion with Grok on any issue?”

And I said: I don’t need AI.

That should be self-explanatory. In plain English: No.

KevinM
Reply to  _Jim
December 23, 2025 7:45 am

More difficult to spoof gps than to roll back an odometer for most humans.

strativarius
December 23, 2025 2:30 am

Off Topic – Dr Roy Spencer’s Backing of UK Met Office Temperature Record Draws Furious Counter Reaction

Spencer asserts that his simple bias reduction modelling… 

BBC R4 dutifully and extensively, trumpeted the ‘hottest year evah‘ this morning based on… new Met Office data.

This year is on course to be the UK’s hottest since records began, according to the Met Office, as climate change continues to drive temperatures to new heights. – BBC

So what happened to Dr Spencer?

worsethanfailure
Reply to  strativarius
December 23, 2025 3:43 am

If I read him right, Spencer only argues that a badly sited observing station measures its local environment just as accurately as a well-sited one. So it can be used to say things about trends in just its poor location.. Which seems OK to me.

I don’t think he advocates mixing/averaging observations from well-sited stations with badly sited stations to arrive at climate observations…does he?

strativarius
Reply to  worsethanfailure
December 23, 2025 4:22 am

He is backing an organisation that knowingly fabricates data – ie from the 103 non existent stations.

He can say what he likes, but that fact is a big problem for me.

KevinM
Reply to  strativarius
December 23, 2025 7:51 am

Maybe a fabricated observing station measures its local environment just as accurately as a well-sited one?


SxyxS
Reply to  worsethanfailure
December 23, 2025 4:48 am

That’s how I understand it.

But which astronomer would claim that a badly positioned telescope is as accurate as a good positioned one?
The problem is that,the more noise, the less accurate the final data.

Too many parameters can get compromised.

But the main question should be :
Why do badly sited stations even (still ) exist?

strativarius
Reply to  SxyxS
December 23, 2025 5:18 am

The greater the margin of error the greater the potential for correcting – as desired.

Reply to  SxyxS
December 23, 2025 8:46 am

And why are “data” from non-existent stations still included in the record?

KevinM
Reply to  strativarius
December 23, 2025 7:49 am

If most years are called “the hottest ever”
and they continue to look and feel like ordinary years
then most current college-age kids will realize they’ve “been had” before they turn 40.

strativarius
Reply to  KevinM
December 23, 2025 10:33 am

That still takes time… and taxes etc

Reply to  KevinM
December 24, 2025 1:00 pm

These kids are convinced by social media that they are, indeed, experiencing the effects of “hottest ever” even though they rarely even venture outside.

This is why the Met names every rain cloud, blasts alerts for the mildest of storms and makes sure to “inform” everyone that it’s all due to CO2.

Admitting they’d been had is never going to happen. It’s their identity now.

Bruce Cobb
December 23, 2025 2:46 am

If true, then there will be wide outbreaks of Smug. Indeed, Smugginess, and Smugstorms will be the new normal.

strativarius
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
December 23, 2025 4:45 am

Smugging hell…

December 23, 2025 4:01 am

With the current technological progress there will be almost no ICE or hybrid market after 2030. European car makers can be part or go belly up

strativarius
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 4:26 am
Reply to  strativarius
December 23, 2025 4:35 am

By 2030 EVs will be be technologically and economically so much better that ICEs simply can’t compete.
Maybe you should try engaging your brain and see how the car industry is lobbying for their own destruction

strativarius
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 4:41 am

If that were true none of the above would matter, but it does.

There will be ice cars well into the 2040s. The manufacturers have seen sense, and belatedly so has the EU; now it’s your turn.

Reply to  strativarius
December 23, 2025 5:00 am

Will European car makers play a role in the future or not – that’s where it matters.
There will be ice on the street, but for new sales? Maybe a small group of collectors.
Look up Dedroit and japanese cars if you want to see how that will play out.

strativarius
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 5:05 am

You can wriggle and turn, but you know that when the chips are down what works is what will win out, eventually.

I look at the industry – what hasn’t been offshored to China and India – and regard Detroit as completely irrelevant. Can you guess why?

Reply to  strativarius
December 23, 2025 5:19 am

I don’t wriggle and turn, but as the saying goes: Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.

strativarius
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 5:25 am

Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.

So, definitely no wind and no solar. Unless you are keen to, er, repeat history. And to be John Blunt about it, that’s regressive, not progressive.

Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 8:50 am

And yet, you are making predictions about the near-term future based on some sort of undocumented extrapolation, based on feelings. Our household owns two ICEVs. We were about to buy a new ICEV to beat the Model-Year 2027 CAFE rules. No need now – we’ll just keep our current ICEVs running. That is a rational buying decision.

Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 11:32 am

Seems to apply to lusers who make stupidly ignorant comments… repeatedly

KevinM
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 8:00 am

You know that American workers still make cars in Detroit, right?
“USA Top Selling Vehicles (Overall) 

  1. Ford F-Series: The perennial favorite, leading sales in many states.
  2. Toyota RAV4: The best-selling SUV, also topping global charts for 2024.
  3. Chevrolet Silverado: A strong competitor in the pickup truck segment.
  4. Honda CR-V: A very popular compact SUV.
  5. Ram Pickup: A strong contender in the truck market.
Reply to  KevinM
December 23, 2025 8:52 am

Which, if any, are actually built in Detroit? Are the RAV-4 and CR-V actually made in America, by American workers?

Reply to  Retired_Engineer_Jim
December 23, 2025 9:39 am
Sparta Nova 4
Reply to  Gunga Din
December 23, 2025 10:54 am

A lot of automotive manufacturing left Detroit.
Tennessee, if memory serves, and perhaps Georgia.

Reply to  KevinM
December 23, 2025 11:26 am

In Australia for 2024 we have..

  1. Ford Ranger
  2. Toyota Rav 4
  3. Toyota HiLux
  4. Isuzu D-max
  5. Mitsubishi Outlander.
  6. Ford Everest
  7. Toyota Corolla
  8. Mazda CX-5
Sparta Nova 4
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 11:03 am

Top Global Groups (Year-to-Date through October/November 2025)
1. Toyota Group: Leading globally, showing strong performance across Asia and America.
2. Volkswagen Group: Solid second place, with growth in Europe offsetting losses in Asia.
3. Hyundai-Kia: Strong showing with significant gains in America.
4. Stellantis: Surged in Asia but faced declines in America and Europe.
5. Renault-Nissan Alliance: Experienced a decline in the Asian market.
6. General Motors (GM): Grew in America, though fell in Europe.
7. Ford Group: Gained in America but lost ground in Asia.
8. Geely Group: Showed one of the best performances with massive growth, primarily in Asia. 

Top Selling Models (Mid-2025)
Toyota Corolla, Tesla Model Y, Ford F-Series, Honda CR-V, and Chevrolet Silverado were among the world’s top-selling vehicles.

Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 11:40 am

Japanese cars… Oh you mean Toyota 😉

Tim F
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 26, 2025 10:19 am

Please read Prof Simon Michaux paper: Challenges and Bottlenecks for Green Transition. It is a 1,000 page paper with detailed analysis of required minerals to replace 1.6B vehicles. It would require the removal of quadrillions of pounds of overburden to get to the ore required. It would take 1,000s of new mines and 10s of thousands of very large diesel powered equipment. Learn some math, get a clue. Also look up Mark Mills paper from Northwestern University School of Engineering and Mines.

Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 4:49 am

re: “By 2030 EVs will be be technologically and economically so much better that ICEs simply can’t compete.”

  1. Hopium
  2. Delusionium
  3. Confusionium
  4. Dopium
  5. Idiocy
  6. Dunning-Krugerium
Reply to  _Jim
December 23, 2025 7:26 am

You forgot the ever-present element, Delirium.

Sparta Nova 4
Reply to  Mark Whitney
December 23, 2025 11:05 am

Does Mr. Fusion run on Delirium?
/h

Reply to  Mark Whitney
December 23, 2025 11:30 am

Or the newest model….

The Luser Derangement

Reply to  _Jim
December 23, 2025 8:53 am

Always depending on that magical technological breakthrough. First thing need is significantly improved energy density for the battery in BEVs.

Reply to  Retired_Engineer_Jim
December 23, 2025 2:21 pm

The more energy you store… the more catastrophic when things go wrong..

Yooper
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 5:33 am

Tell that to Ford….

Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 7:23 am

Yes, a magic wand will be waved to make the fantasy come true, and the actual physical and material limitations will go away in a puff of pixie dust.

KevinM
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 7:56 am

You know that engineers all over Earth have been optimizing ICE since 1908, right?

Petey Bird
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 8:38 am

You are able to predict the future? That is a very special talent.
Do you have some stock picks to share?

Sparta Nova 4
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 8:48 am

Technologically? Possibly, but if so, only marginally so.
Economically? No.

Car industry lobbying for their own destruction.
Ford cancels EV products to stem the massive financial bleeding.
Ford is not alone.

Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 11:37 am

Here’s a question for you…

Keep in mind the electric school buses that have to turn their heating off or get a drastic reduction in range.

Maybe they need a secondary ICE to provide heating and cooling ?

EV-winter
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 6:19 am

LMAO. Right, the “current technological progress” that still lead more than 90% to choose ICE vehicles vs. EVs WITH “incentives” to buy EVs at taxpayer expense is going to dry up the market for USEFUL vehicles in 5 years WITHOUT said “incentives.”

In your wet dreams only.

Bruce Cobb
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 6:36 am

What color sky does your planet have? Just wondering.

Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 7:20 am

Spoken by someone who really has no clue about real people. EVs are a luxury item for a limited elite. People who actually exist in the real world need vehicles that they can fix themselves or get fixed as cheaply as possible, vehicles that can be made to keep going for two or three decades. The line at the local Pic-and-Pull can attest to that fact.
Not to mention vehicles that can be re-energized on the way to work and can run the heater without fear of dying in place in traffic.

Sparta Nova 4
Reply to  Mark Whitney
December 23, 2025 11:06 am

You left out electric golf carts.
🙂

KevinM
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 7:55 am

You understand this is 2025, right?

Tusten02
December 23, 2025 4:04 am

From where will the supply of electric power come from?

Reply to  Tusten02
December 23, 2025 4:25 am

My flock of unicorns.

WIN_20211119_12_32_20_Pro
Reply to  Tusten02
December 23, 2025 5:32 am

You may not like it, but that’s what the future looks like.

wind-solar
strativarius
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 6:19 am

Until there is a storm, hail etc then they are toast.

CD in Wisconsin
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 6:54 am

MUNR,

Do you by chance recall my reply to your comment back on Sunday at 4:21 AM (Open Thread) where I talked about the energy density of various energy sources? Did you understand it?

The poor energy density of wind and solar (along with the intermittency problem) are the reasons why governments (especially in the UK and Europe) are the ones who have to push and cheerlead for wind and solar energy. Politicians and bureaucrats are generally not known to be scientifically literate.

If there weren’t any problems with wind and solar, government would not be required for a renewable energy industry involving wind and solar. Generally speaking, the private sector does not invest its money in things that don’t work or work poorly. IMHO, the wind and solar energy industry is an artificial product of government for this reason. It provides the money, mandates and incentives that made this possible regardless of the issues with renewables. It reflects the political clout of the environmental movement.

If you understood all of this MUNR, you probably would not have posted that comment and photo above.

Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 7:29 am

Not Reloaded, but definitely loaded.

Bruce Cobb
Reply to  Mark Whitney
December 23, 2025 8:33 am

As in, full of it.

Reply to  Bruce Cobb
December 23, 2025 8:36 am

I believe it is called a “blivet”; ten pounds of #*it in a five-pound bag.

antigtiff
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 10:05 am

What an ugly picture….and the glare hurts my eyes. Wind/solar is expensive….that picture does even show the batteries needed. No, man made GW is not real so let economics and choice decide the future.

Sparta Nova 4
Reply to  antigtiff
December 23, 2025 10:56 am

Loss of farmland. Loss of biodiversity. Ecological damage.
And we get to pay extra for all of that.

Sparta Nova 4
Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 10:57 am

Ah. So good at predicting.
Tell me, what will be the winning Power Ball numbers?

Reply to  MyUsernameReloaded
December 23, 2025 11:18 am

Making stupid comments you know are basically just juvenile trolling with zero reality behind them…

That is your MO. !!

Is it just petty attention seeking ??

December 23, 2025 4:38 am

Well the EU abandoned the ban on ICU vehicles only for private consumers, leasing companies f.e. have to go full electric. Hybrid, just a short fancy word for “hey I am pulling deadweight around”.

December 23, 2025 4:45 am

Kinetic. Energy. Recovery. Vehicles.

“KERVs?”

strativarius
December 23, 2025 4:54 am

News from the barricades…

Professional protester Greta Thunberg was arrested Tuesday in Central London while part of a mass gathering backing the Palestine Action terrorist group.

The UK government in July proscribed Palestine Action under the UK’s Terrorism Act of 2000.
This followed several acts of vandalism, including against two planes at a Royal Air Force base, which caused an estimated £7 million ($10 million) in damage.

She said in a video posted on her Instagram: “We are witnessing with pure and utter disgust how the UK government is handling this situation.”Breitbart

No hint of climate anxiety there….

December 23, 2025 5:26 am

The likely result is that many will simply carry on using hybrids as if they were bog-standard petrol cars. They will run wholly on petrol, which will emit just as much CO2 as the petrol version does!

_______________________________________________________________________________

Rubbish

Our ’22 Hybrid Ford Escape gets ~40 mpg. Our old ’10 Escape got ~20mpg.

MrGrimNasty
December 23, 2025 7:02 am

Story tip, perhaps not for WUWT, but others may be interested.

The UK home insulation scheme disaster reached the national news today. Other than a passing mention of the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, they didn’t highlight the connection to NetZero policy.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz0ne0k70dro

A healthy older house, for the occupants and the structure, is well ventilated and warmed to a comfortable temperature. Of course those things are not compatible with expensive net zero energy policies. Labour is blaming the last government but we all know cowboys and fraud and gov. ‘free’ money schemes are inseparable.

Bob
December 23, 2025 12:24 pm

While I am encouraged to see that these bureaucratic fools have realized they were requiring the impossible I am thoroughly fed up with their lying and cheating. CO2 can’t cause catastrophic runaway global warming, even they know that yet they shamelessly pretend it can and require useless regulations that will accomplish exactly nothing but cause great harm and expense. They are criminals.

Sparta Nova 4
Reply to  Bob
December 24, 2025 5:43 am

Time and again those UN officials have stated that it is not about the environment, it is about changing the world’s economies. AKA One World Order with unelected UN officials ruling.

George Kaplan
December 23, 2025 5:17 pm

Yet another article that conflates hybrids (ICE + electric motors) with PHEVs. Yes technically PHEVs are hybrids, but there is a fundamental difference between PHEVs which can be operated as EVs for short distances with regular recharging, and standard hybrids which are akin to highly efficient ICEVs.

Ian_e
December 24, 2025 1:01 am

Of course the extra weight of PHEVs means that, if used as pure fossil fuel only, they will emit MORE CO2. They will also of course do more road damage (proportional to the fourth power of weight!!).

Sparta Nova 4
Reply to  Ian_e
December 24, 2025 5:44 am

Plus tire pollution, real pollution.

Rahx360
December 24, 2025 1:12 am

You can’t save car manufacturers by building cars people can’t afford. I live in a very expensive town, used to be poor farmers town, so you have a mix of the old lower middle class and high income families. 95% of all EV’s are company cars worth over 50k. But when you can’t the traffic 50% are cheap and old cars. A small Toyota Aygo Hybrid sells for €23.000, too much for a small car and unaffordable for 50%. Unless they change the crap car sales will go down, large second hand market. People keep losing purchasing power due politics, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why the economy spiraling down.