While most hybrids are said to use one to two litres of fuel per 100km, a study claims they need six litres on average

I can say from personal experience that my Chevy Volt gets around 40-60mpg when it kicks over to gas. That said, it rarely does, because my daily commute comfortably inside the battery's range.

Until now it has been claimed by manufacturers that the vehicles used only a little or almost no fuel when in the electric mode. The studies showed that this was not in fact the case.

Again, I've got a tank of fuel from... several months ago? Barely 7 gallons and it hasn't run out. Like, I almost never visit the gas station anymore. So, idk. Maybe the Volt was just built better.

Misleading article. Someone reading this may think that a PHEV will have higher fuel consumption than claimed. When it reality it should be clarified that fuel efficiency is based on roughly 75% electric drive share.

I see the point where they should adjust that down based on real.world usage.

But... if you are expected to drive 75% electric based on battery range and your usage, you will hit the manufacturers claims, give or take

I met someone who had been given a PHEV company car. They had been driving it for 6 months, and I was the first person who informed them that their car could be plugged in to charge. They thought it just charged itself while driving.

I doubt this is an isolated incident.

Many companies and councils are trying to look more green by making the switch to EV, but don't want the "risk" of an actual EV. I believe they are the main customers for PHEVs, and they are also the least likely to recharge them.

I've even heard of people deliberately refueling and not recharging because they have a company car for fuel, but would have to pay for electricity themselves.

Fleet vehicles are skewing numbers too. They often don't get plugged in regularly and use the gas engine far more.

So I own one of these vehicles and I was thinking there's no way this can be because I can see my fuel consumption and it is very low. But according to the article it varies greatly by model, and mine was mentioned as being on the low end.

For me at least, I can hear when the engine turns on and it does not do so until the battery range is used up, so there should be no fuel usage during short trips. It seems quite strange that some vehicles would work otherwise.

The article is horribly unclear: it seems to say that PHEVs are no good, but "the main reason for the higher-than-stated fuel usage was ...that the PHEVs use two different modes, the electric engine and the combustion engine". Well, so do non-plugin hybrids. I doubt they're saying that plug-in hybrids are worse than non-plugin, but you might guess that from the title.

The article states that Porsche PHEVs used 7 liters per 100 miles (33.6mpg), but Kia/Toyota/Ford/Renault used "85% less" (1.05L/100k or 223mpg... maybe about right if driven 75% from plug-in energy).

Porsche mentioned "different usage patterns". I can buy that a typical Prius owner is plugging-in every night, filling low-rolling-resistance tires to 54psi and driving like grandma, and a typical Porsche owner... isn't. If you want apples-to-apples, then compare a gas Corolla vs a Prius vs a Plug-in Prius, where the cars are from the same city/suburb, and similar owners (e.g.: no ubers, no regional sales reps).

This "study" is evaluating real-world use of one class of vehicles, and not other vehicle types; then using the dismal ways some people drive to imply that this particular class of vehicles is the problem.

Until now it has been claimed by manufacturers that the vehicles used only a little or almost no fuel when in the electric mode.

I have a PHEV and the gas engine shuts off completely when in electric mode. I don't see how it could be using gas when it's not running. Are they confusing the hybrid mode with electric mode?

No, this is poorly framed information. They don't "require" on average 300% more fuel to run. The drivers choose to charge their cars 300% less often than manufactures suggest. This is skewed by rental and fleet cars whose users never charge the car, and by owners who treat their car as a normal hybrid instead of charging it. I was once given a plug-in hybrid van as a rental car but never told it was a PHEV. I didn't figure it out until the next morning when I was walking up to it and saw the charging cover. My hotel didn't have a charger, so I couldn't really do anything about it; but if I were a normal person and not someone who has owned multiple EVs then I wouldn't have even thought to charge it.

Also, the Porsche one makes total sense. The car is going to burn through battery charge and then hit the gas engine faster when, as expected, Porsche drivers drive them like a Porsche.

My 2003 petrol car gets 6 litres per 100km. Even if the PHEVs are running like a normal hybrid 100% of the time, that economy is trash.

I got a Chevy Volt last year and I went from spending $350 per month on gas to spending around $20 per month (up to almost $30 when it was so cold last month).