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Former Fiat exec sees hybrids hurt by VW emissions scandal

Rinaldo Rinolfi: "The real-world driving cycle will highly reduce the advantages of plug-in hybrids. I assume that, combined with their considerable added cost, will drastically reduce their appeal."
April 06, 2016 05:00 AM

Full hybrids and plug-in hybrids will suffer most in the aftermath of Volkswagen Group's emissions-cheating scandal, says Rinaldo Rinolfi, who is one of Europe's pre-eminent powertrain experts. He says the move to real-world emissions tests, which has been accelerated by VW's use of a defeat device to deceive testers, will show that plug-in hybrids are not nearly as efficient when on the road compared with the very low-CO2 results they attain under Europe's current guidelines.

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