Hybrid vehicles now come in a lot of different colors, but they are still there to get every last sip from the gas engine. It’s reminiscent of a “sustainable” vehicle produced by Subaru in 2014. Their eco-friendly Crosstrek sported a mild-hybrid battery and an exclusive Plasma Green Pearl paint. But this green hybrid barely moved the needle on either city or highway MPG.
Hybrid gas vehicles are producing better results today, but in many ways, they continue to be more virtue signaling than solution. The hybrid moniker lets both car buyers and car sellers signal their clean-air values and dispense with EV fears about “range.” But the small lithium-ion or nickel-metal hydride battery installed in a gasoline car is essentially a “boost.” It’s a much smaller effect than what you get from a full battery electric car or even a plug-in hybrid. But the salespeople at the legacy car dealership are not going to tell you that.
Gas/Carbon Offsets:
The truth is in the numbers. A regular gas car, say a standard Mazda CX-50 (a midsize SUV), has an EPA estimate for combined city and highway driving of just 28 MPG. If you take the same vehicle and add the hybrid powertrain, the mileage improves by about 36% to 38 MPG. That sounds good, but over its lifetime (say, 150,000 miles), the hybrid car will still burn roughly 3,947 gallons of gasoline and produce over 35 metric tons of CO2.
There are other, more technical ways of analyzing the benefits and fuel savings but the key issue if the continued dependence on petroleum. Carbon emissions and fuel economy are flip-sides of the same coin; reduce use of petroleum, release less C02 into the atmosphere, assuming there is no increase in trip-taking.
There are a couple of reasons automakers have embraced hybrids. Toyota, which pioneered the trusty and economical Prius, has been the most vocal. They plan to offer hybrid-only options across the core vehicle lineup. In some ways, that’s a move toward efficiency, but in other ways, it’s just a way to meet U.S. Environmental regulations. They require automakers to meet a fleetwide average fuel economy target of 50.4 MPG by 2031 (with heavy-duty pickups and vans targeted for 35 MPG by 2035). These are the NHTSA Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and EPA greenhouse gas rules, which may or may not be enforceable given recent challenges.
Thermal Losses:
Even if automakers are unsure about the viability of these rules, they plan production lines on four-year plus cycles. So, to keep ahead of the curve and continue to build gas vehicles, they also have to plunge into the depths of hybrids. The thermal losses of the gasoline engine explains why: in a pure internal combustion engine (ICE), only about 20% to 30% of the fuel’s chemical energy turns the wheels. The rest is dissipated as waste heat through the radiator, friction in moving parts, and hot exhaust gases. When you fill up a 15-gallon gas tank, only about three to four gallons are used for the 250 plus mile trip.
A hybrid battery claws back wasted energy. At a stoplight or during low-speed idles, the electric motor takes over so the engine can shut down. Some hybrids assist the gas engine when climbing hills or accelerating hard. Meanwhile, the hybrid battery never has to be plugged in as they recapture energy when the driver steps on the brakes.
The Ford Motor Company is emblematic of companies trying out a gas/hybrid straddle. In 2020 and again in 2023, Ford promised to build an EV van and then, a 3-row, 7-seat electric SUV. These are niche, but essential automotive segments. Instead of sticking with their focus on 100% battery electric vehicles Ford decided to pivot towards hybrid gas vehicles. They canceled the 3-row EV lines and delayed the van.
Reading the Storyline:
The rationale this on the corporate Ford site is tricky to read. In From the Road, the company notes that by 2030, about 50% of Ford’s global sales volume will consist of hybrids, extended-range EVs, and all-electric vehicles, up from around 17%. This could mean, depending upon your interpretation, that a massive portion of Ford’s fleet will continue to be gasoline powered. Elsewhere on the site, Ford insists this is a customer-driven shift.
Harking back to that “green” Subaru hybrid, there continues to be double-speak when manufacturers tout their hybrid models. European manufacturers, among others, (Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Audi) frequently label these vehicles as “hybrids.” But many are “ mild hybrids.” They have a 48-volt battery that assists the starter motor, powers the onboard electronics, and occasionally provides an incremental fraction of a boost in fuel economy. Still, mild hybrids get fancy names, like the “eTorque” system produced by Stellantis (Jeep/Ram).
Despite their name, these “mild” vehicles heavily wrap transportation in fossil fuels for years to come, albeit a modified mild demand curve.