More greenwash? Mitsubishi promises “electrified” future, but vague on EVs

Mitsubishi Motors Australia has used its 2024 dealer conference to outline its future product strategy, one that it says will focus on “electrified powertrains” and will see “multiple electrified solutions by 2030.”

But it’s vague about battery electric cars. Like other Japanese car makers, the focus is on hybrid technologies, and still burning fossil fuels,

“Australia is a core market for MMC, and it makes an important contribution to our global business,” says Mitsubishi Australia.

“We will offer not only battery electrics but also plug-in hybrids and hybrids, and introduce appropriate products that will meet the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) set by the Australian government.” The automaker didn’t specify what percentage of its vehicles will be pure battery electrics. The Driven contacted Mitsubishi Australia to ask how many BEV models they intend to sell but have not yet had a response.

UN Secretary General calls out “shameless” greenwashing

The news comes just days after fellow Japanese fossil carmaker Toyota announced that it was ending what it calls “petrol-only” variants of nine models including the RAV4, Camry, Corolla and Kluger SUV and offer only “hybrid-electric” options, a decision it says is being driven by strong customer demand.

That customer demand, of course,  is in turn being driven by high spending on advertising.  Last year the Australian fossil car industry spent $661 million on advertising. That works out to an average of over $500 per vehicle sold.

In a major speech this week, UN Secretary General António Guterres singled out fossil fuel advertising calling for governments around the world to implement a fossil advertising ban immediately.

“Many in the fossil fuel industry, have shamelessly greenwashed even as they have sought to delay climate action with lobbying, legal threats and massive ad campaigns,” said Guterres during the speech.

“And they have been aided and abetted by advertising and PR companies. Madmen fuelling the madness.” said Guterres referring to Madmen the TV series about a sociopathic advertising executive.

The Secretary General has called for a “tobacco style” restrictions on promotions for coal, petroleum and gas.

“Many governments restrict or prohibit advertising for products that harm human health, like tobacco,” he said. “I urge every country to ban advertising from fossil-fuel companies. And I urge news media and tech companies to stop taking fossil-fuel advertising.

“I call on these companies to stop acting as enablers of planetary destruction. Stop taking on new fossil fuel clients from today and set out plans to drop your existing ones.”

Japanese car makers use “electrified” terminology for cars that run on fossil fuels

Japanese automakers such as Mitsubishi continue to use the term “electrified” to define petrol burning hybrid vehicles. With Japanese automakers under pressure to produce fully electric vehicles, they appear to be shifting their focus to promoting hybrids as “green” solutions. This is despite strong evidence to the contrary.

Many vehicle customers may be being misled about the true green credentials of the vehicles they’re purchasing. While many people believe that hybrids are low emitting vehicles, real-world data recently released by the European Union suggests otherwise.

With plenty of electric vehicle models now available, companies that promote petrol and diesel burning hybrids risk being seen as greenwashing.

In April the European Union Environment Agency published data showing car makers are substantially overestimating the efficiency of their vehicles for petrol, diesel and in particular hybrid vehicles. Vehicle manufacturers quote WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure) to indicate the amount of emissions vehicles produce per km driven.

The measure is meant to indicate the fuel efficiency of the vehicle however it’s measured in lab conditions and is often very different from actual real-world numbers. When purchasing a vehicle, customers depend on the WLTP figures to understand how much pollution they’ll be generating while driving.

While the average WLTP CO2 emissions figure across 123,740 hybrids sold in the EU was just 39.59 g/km of CO2, the actual real-world average for those vehicles was 139.39 g/km. An enormous gap of around 100g/km with the real-world figure 3.5 times higher than the WLTP figure.

For Toyota hybrids, the real-world emissions figures were on average more than four times higher than the stated WLTP figures.

New ICE engines “tailored to electrification”

Mitsubishi Australia’s announcement comes after a bizarre joint announcement from Toyota, Mazda and Subaru last week where the companies committed to continued investment into fossil fuel internal combustion engines.

The joint event which was paradoxically called “Multipathway Workshop” didn’t really announce any joint projects and has baffled many.

“Subaru, Toyota, and Mazda have always been driven by a deep understanding of their customers’ diverse lifestyles,” the car makers said in a joint statement.

“This understanding has led the three companies to develop signature engines that not only represent their respective brands but also cater to their customers’ unique needs and preferences.

“With the next generation of engines, the three companies will seek to not only improve standalone engine performance but also optimize their integration with electric drive units, harnessing the advantages of each.”

Hybrid vehicles the new battle ground for greenwashing

No matter how car companies try to spin it, the vehicle type referred to as “hybrid”, plug-in or otherwise, is objectively a petrol burning car and that’s how consumers are using them.

Companies who engage in this type of marketing are misleading well meaning customers and threatening the decarbonisation of transport by enabling what are actually petrol cars to be marketed as “green”.

Last year Toyota was referred to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for allegedly making misleading claims regarding the environmental performance of its vehicles and its net zero ambitions.

The complaint, which was lodged by the law firm Environmental Defenders Office on behalf of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, was made just a day after the ACCC announced that it was planning a crackdown on corporate greenwashing. Calling petrol powered hybrids “electrified” should have the same treatment.