7:00 am, July 11, 2022
Electric cars put under test are failing to reach their claimed range by an average of 18 per cent.
That’s according to Which?, with the consumer champion saying an EV with a claimed 240-mile range – the average claimed WLTP range from the 60 cars it has tested since 2017 – was more likely to offer a maximum range of around 196 miles.
It said the range issue existed for electric cars as did the fuel economy one for petrol and diesel vehicles – namely, what’s advertised is usually far better than what people end up getting.
The organisation said it was especially problematical for those who were unable to charge EVs at home.
Some manufacturers now claim their models have ranges in excess of 400 miles between charges, said Which?, but its tests found actual ranges to be on average 18 per cent less than the official figure, with some significantly worse.
Which? senior researcher and writer Adrian Porter said: ‘When we originally tested the dual motor “long range” version of the Polestar 2, it had a claimed WLTP range of 298 miles but delivered just 183 miles in our tests.
‘That’s a colossal loss of 115 miles – 39 per cent – of range compared to the official claim.
‘Polestar has since released over-the-air updates and vastly improved the car’s range.
‘After retesting the same car, we found its tested range is now a much-improved 247 miles, but it’s still far off the also-increased official range of 302 miles – 18 per cent less than claimed, bringing the car in line with the average electric car.’
Hwever, the current BMW iX bucks the trend.
‘Our tests on the xDrive50 version of the iX show that it can travel a record-breaking 382 miles before running out of juice – that’s two miles more than the official WLTP figure,’ said Porter.
The three best-performing EVs
BMW iX (2021-)
WLTP claimed range: 380 miles
Tested range: 382 miles
Difference: +1 per cent
Mercedes-Benz EQV (2020-)
WLTP claimed range: 213 miles
Tested range: 202 miles
Difference: -5 per cent
Audi e-tron (2019-)
WLTP claimed range: 241 miles
Tested range: 227 miles
Difference: -6 per cent
The three worst-performing EVs
Polestar 2 (2020-) (pre-updated version)
WLTP claimed range: 298 miles
Tested range: 183 miles
Difference: -39 per cent
Volkswagen ID.4 GTX (2021-)
WLTP claimed range: 300 miles
Tested range: 193 miles
Difference: -36 per cent
Volkswagen e-Golf (2014-2020)
WLTP claimed range: 186 miles
Tested range: 125 miles
Difference: -33 per cent
