  Assessing the energy and emissions of representative plug-in hybrid electric
vehicle (PHEV) model operations is crucial for accelerating carbon neutrality
transitions in China's passenger car sector. This study makes the first attempt
to create a bottom-up model to measure the real-world energy use and carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions of China's top twenty selling PHEV model operations
across different geographical regions during 2020-2022. The results indicate
that (1) the actual electricity intensity for the best-selling PEHV models
(20.2-38.2 kilowatt-hour [kWh]/100 kilometers [km]) was 30-40% higher than the
New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) values, and the actual gasoline intensity
(4.7 to 23.5 liters [L]/100 km) was 3-6 times greater than the NEDC values. (2)
The overall energy consumption of the best-selling models exhibited variations
among various geographical regions, and the total gasoline equivalent was twice
as high in southern China (1283 mega-liters, 2020-2022) than in northern China
and the Yangtze River Middle Reach. (3) The top-selling models emitted 4.9
mega-tons (Mt) of CO2 nationwide from 2020-2022, 1.9 Mt from electricity and 3
Mt from gasoline. In northern China, carbon emissions per vehicle were more
than 1.2 times greater than those in other regions. Furthermore, targeted
policy implications for expediting the carbon-neutral transition within the
passenger vehicles are proposed. Overall, this study reviews and compares
national and regional benchmark data and performance data for PHEV operations.
Its objective is to bolster national decarbonization initiatives, ensuring low
emissions and expediting the transportation sector's transition toward a
net-zero era.
