New data reveals awkward truth about hybrids compared to ICE and EVs for pollution

A new study has provided an interesting framework to determine whether internal combustion cars are actually worse for pollution than EVs.

The study analyzed data from gasoline and diesel cars, hybrids, and of course electric cars.

There’s one clear winner and one clear loser.

And the loser might surprise you.

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The study confirmed what most people suspected about EVs

A new study published by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) analyzed pollution data from gasoline and diesel cars, hybrids, and EVs.

The new study took everything into consideration, from what comes out of the tailpipe to the overall lifecycle, including sourcing batteries.

According to the study, there’s one clear winner when it comes to polluting the least, and that’s the electric car.

While EVs are the cleanest, there are two ways in which they pollute more than internal combustion cars.

First, EVs are generally heavier, which means they emit more tire dust and the brakes deteriorate faster.

And second, the manufacturing and battery footprint is larger, about 8.0 tons of CO2 over 150,000 km upfront versus 5.5 for ICE cars.

However, you then get a zero-emission car, which offsets the extra pollution upfront.

As a result, you get about 17.5 tons with an EV in total, or 11.5 if you manage to charge on renewable electricity.

There’s one clear loser, and it’s not what we thought

A hybrid is the second-cleanest option, even though it depends on whether it’s a mild hybrida or a plug-in hybrid.

Obviously, the example is a bit silly since we’re talking about emissions but the Ferrari LaFerrari is technically a mild hybrid, which means both the electric unit and the internal combustion engine are always on.

This type of hybrid (not in the case of the LaFerrari, of course) produces about 26.7 tons on average.

Plug-in hybrids do a bit better, with an average 20 tons of CO2 over 150,000 kilometers.

For reference, a plug-in hybrid is a car that runs on gasoline and electricity 90 percent of the time but can also run (generally very briefly) on electric power alone.

Then we’ve got diesel cars, and they do even worse at 33 tons.

Interestingly, diesel cars are apparently still cleaner that gasoline cars (35.5 metric tons over 150,000KM), but that’s just because they have better fuel economy.

So, there you have it. According to this study, gas cars come in last place.