Overview
- Industry group VDA, led by Hildegard Müller, suggests designing PHEVs to require charging within a set driving distance, with automatic performance reduction if warnings are ignored.
- The proposal responds to new OBFCM-based analysis of 127,000 cars showing real‑world CO₂ emissions far above WLTP figures, reported as nearly fivefold on average.
- EU rules due in 2026–2027 will count PHEVs more realistically in fleet CO₂ calculations, raising the risk of manufacturers incurring large fines.
- VDA’s idea has been publicly floated without formal legal or technical specifics, leaving implementation details undecided.
- PHEVs remain commercially important with German registrations up 64% to 218,000 in January–September 2025, helped by favorable company‑car tax treatment and parallel scrutiny in the US and China.