Never mind the advertising, how far will an electric car actually go between charges, in the real world?
UK motoring publication What Car? set out to discover the answer in early 2024, devising its own real world test in typical UK wintery conditions. While the temperature wasn’t freezing, it was cold, and rainy. All the cars were driven around the same set of test routes, at the same time. Heaters and air conditioning were set to the same temperature. And, to keep it fair, drivers were regularly swapped from car to car.
The aim was to drive the cars until they ran out. No stopping when they showed zero, a rescue squad was in place, when cars actually died.
The team included the following vehicles in the test. First, the newly refreshed Tesla Model 3 Long Range, which officially has the longest range of any car on test, with a 390 mile WLTP range – with 19 inch wheels. The car used for the test had smaller wheels, which Tesla predicted would give an additional range of up to 421 miles.
The group included two versions of VW’s id7 – one with a heat pump, one without. Then there was a Mercedes EQE executive saloon, which scored well in What Car’s summer test. From China came the Byd Seal, potentially a Tesla rival in size and style. From BMW was the i5, an expensive executive saloon with a reckoned 338 official range. Then from Volvo the team obtained a newly uprated XC40 Twin Motor Plus, with an official 331 range. Firmly representing a value offer was the MG5, with the variant selected being an Extended Range Trophy model. Further down the expected range scale was a Lexus UX300e, a small electric SUV costing GBP57,000. Bringing up the rear were three wild cards: the smaller, cheaper Byd Dolphin with list price of little more than GBP31,000; the Lexus RZ450e, with a modest official range despite its GBP74,000 price tag; and the Jeep Avenger, a smaller vehicle but European car of the Year in 2023.
First to run out of charge was the Lexus RZ450e, although it still ran 20 miles while showing zero battery. It was a close run thing, with the Jeep running completely flat too.
So the Lexus, one of the most expensive cars on test, achieved a total 157 miles, while the Avenger, not much more than half the price of the Avenger, hit 163 miles. Next to die was the other Lexus, the UX300e, which achieved 170 miles, 37.9% short of its official range.
The low priced Byd Dolphin was next to run out, achieving 188 miles on this test circuit. Next to fail was the MG at 227 miles, followed by the Volvo at 232 miles. It was beaten by the BMW i5, which achieved 253 miles, still over 25% short of its official range.
Finishing in third place was the VW id7 with a heat pump, hitting 268 miles on the test, and 14 miles ahead of its similar id7 without a heat pump. The Tesla Model 3 achieved 293 miles, while top trumps were served by the Mercedes EQE at 300 miles – helped, it is acknowledged, by having a larger battery onboard.
Looking at efficiency, the Tesla was the clear leader, pacing at 3.9 miles per kwh of electricity consumed. Least efficient was the Lexus, delivering just 2.5 miles from each kwh extracted from its battery.
