Hybrid vigor: Why hybrids with sustainable biofuels are better than pure electric vehicles

Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to evaluate the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of traditional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV), hybrid vehicles (non-plug-in or plug-in), and battery electric vehicles (BEV), fueled with biofuels or recharged with electricity from Brazilian or European matrix, including recharging losses. The study shows that calculated GHG emissions for hybrid vehicles using biofuels are lower than observed for BEVs even in Brazil, where the carbon intensity of the electricity matrix is low compared to most countries. In addition, we show that the emissions of a non-hybrid traditional internal combustion vehicle using biomethane is lower than a BEV. It was also observed that combining Brazilian biofuels with hybrid vehicles results in a higher traveled distance for each kilogram of GHG emitted compared to a BEV.