EVs Fall Short of EPA Estimates by a Much Larger Margin Than ICE in Real-World Highway Testing

No surprises here, but useful data and insights as to why:

• On Car and Driver's 75-mph highway test, more than 350 internal-combustion vehicles averaged 4.0 percent better fuel economy than what was stated on their labels. But the average range for an EV was 12.5 percent worse than the price sticker numbers.
• While separate city and highway range figures are computed behind closed doors, only a combined number is presented to consumers. The combined rating is weighted 55 percent in favor of the city figure, where EVs typically perform better. This inflates the range estimates, making it harder to match in real-world highway driving. The paper proposes publishing both city and highway range figures—as with fuel-economy estimates for gas-powered vehicles—to give shoppers a more holistic sense of a vehicle's abilities.

EVs Fall Short of EPA Estimates by a Much Larger Margin Than Gas Cars in Our Real-World Highway Testing

Gas-powered cars often match or exceed EPA highway fuel economy numbers. A new paper using data from C/D's highway tests shows EVs are far less likely to do so.

www.caranddriver.com

Comparison of On-Road Highway Fuel Economy and All-Electric Range to Label Values: Are the Current Label Procedures Appropriate for Battery Electric Vehicles?

As consumers transition from internal combustion engine (ICE)-powered vehicles to battery electric vehicles (BEV), they will expect the same fuel economy label-to-on-road correlation. Current labeling procedures for BEVs allow a 0.7 or higher multiplier to be applied to the unadjusted fuel economy a

www.sae.org

"Chevy Bolt EV sulla rampa di lancio!" by automobileitalia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

 

[GBearFan]

People are generally well aware that there's a lot of cold-weather range loss. It's one of the negatives that general media will mention.

As new Tesla owners we were NOT aware of this! We thought much of the range loss was fixed with the introduction of the heat pump in the model Y. We were indeed surprised and disappointed to find out that a vehicle with an advertised range of 320 miles was unable to make trips from Metro St. Louis (O'Fallon, IL) to Chicago (294 miles), Kansas City (264 miles), Memphis (274 miles) or Nashville (291 miles) during the winter. I seriously doubt if it can make those trips in the summer. Thankfully the supercharger network has us covered for these trips and I love road tripping in my Y. However, new and potential owners should be made aware of more realistic mileage estimates. We did expect some range loss due to cold weather and fast driving (maybe 15-30 miles), but as new owners we had no reason to expect a 50+ mile drop.

 

[BeeBee]

Actual range is going to be the figure of merit for most buyers (over consumption), especially until fast chargers are as ubiquitous as gas stations.

What would be useful would be a tool that let you pick a handful of vehicles and play with (for example) temperature, HVAC, and speed, and it could show a bar graph with estimated range for each of them. Or, some range vs. speed graphs with different curves for temperature.

I've been researching this hard over the last month since wife is in the market for a new vehicle and I'm trying to steer her to a Y over a Prius. We'll see how the test drives go this weekend. Our usual "road trip" is 225mi Savannah to metro Atlanta to visit our parents, which is 90% interstate and about 3:25 driving time. Usually we make at least one bathroom stop along the way; on the rare occasion we don't, it's right at the limit of how long I can sit without going nuts. The trip itself is doable with a standard range Y but we need to arrive with some usable charge to get around town; there are no fast chargers nearby and we will likely be limited to L1 charging while there.

On road trips like yours we do the following:
- leave the house at 100%
- 3/4 of the way there we “top off” at a Tesla SC at a rest area while taking a bathroom break. SoC goes from say 30% to 80%.
- make a similar stop on the way home

By doing this you don’t have to worry about where to plug in when visiting your relatives.

That sweet spot between 20% and 80% only takes minutes. The last time I did it while I was at the urinal (I know…too much info) I received an alert that my car had enough charge to make it home. I couldn’t believe how fast it charged. Someone else posted that they don’t base their stops so much on SoC but rather on their bladder.

 

[SageBrush]

We did expect some range loss due to cold weather and fast driving (maybe 15-30 miles),

How much did you expect, and how did you estimate ?

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Actual range is going to be the figure of merit for most buyers (over consumption), especially until fast chargers are as ubiquitous as gas stations.

What would be useful would be a tool that let you pick a handful of vehicles and play with (for example) temperature, HVAC, and speed, and it could show a bar graph with estimated range for each of them. Or, some range vs. speed graphs with different curves for temperature.

Such a tool would be useful.

I've been researching this hard over the last month since wife is in the market for a new vehicle and I'm trying to steer her to a Y over a Prius. We'll see how the test drives go this weekend. Our usual "road trip" is 225mi Savannah to metro Atlanta to visit our parents, which is 90% interstate and about 3:25 driving time. Usually we make at least one bathroom stop along the way; on the rare occasion we don't, it's right at the limit of how long I can sit without going nuts. The trip itself is doable with a standard range Y but we need to arrive with some usable charge to get around town; there are no fast chargers nearby and we will likely be limited to L1 charging while there.

CCS adapter (https://shop.tesla.com/product/ccs-combo-1-adapter) adds the following locations (PlugShare) minimum power 70kW:

Superchargers:

At least Morrow, GA opened recently which is less than 20 miles from the current Atlanta, GA location.

 

[GBearFan]

How much did you expect, and how did you estimate ?

I expected a range loss of 15-30 miles, so we were thinking we should get at least 290 miles from a brand new vehicle that's rated at 320 miles. Being completely new to EVs and not knowing anyone who owns one, I had no basis for my estimate. It was a just the most I thought it would drop. On the other hand, I had absolutely no reason to believe we would drop 50+ miles from the stated range of the car. This is why I think new and potential buyers SHOULD be made aware of this. When you buy a car rated for 320 miles, is it not normal to believe that a 264 mile trip should not induce any thoughts of range problems. Long term EV owners (and newbies that have made long road trips) know not to expect anywhere near the EPA range due to their experience. I count myself amongst this group "now", but coming in blind and only having EPA figures to rely on, how much loss should someone expect unless they are informed by those of us who are in the know?

 

[STS-134]

I expected a range loss of 15-30 miles, so we were thinking we should get at least 290 miles from a brand new vehicle that's rated at 320 miles.

That's the combined range, and you would get it, if you drive it in "mixed" (city and highway) driving from 100% to 0% in ideal conditions with no HVAC usage.

Being completely new to EVs and not knowing anyone who owns one, I had no basis for my estimate. It was a just the most I thought it would drop. On the other hand, I had absolutely no reason to believe we would drop 50+ miles from the stated range of the car. This is why I think new and potential buyers SHOULD be made aware of this. When you buy a car rated for 320 miles, is it not normal to believe that a 264 mile trip should not induce any thoughts of range problems.

You've never driven an ICE vehicle at 90-100 mph and seen how far the gas gauge drops compared to driving at 70? Seriously? My previous ICE vehicle would normally get a range of about 415 miles per tank but one time I drove at such a high speed that the fuel warning light came on after only about 320 miles. That's a drop in range of almost 100 miles (and almost 25%) just from speed alone. And on top of that, you went all the way from researching the vehicle to purchasing it without once taking a look at range vs speed and weather charts? I didn't have to search too long to find this: Tesla Range Plotted Relative To Speed & Temperature (Graphs) - CleanTechnica

But honestly, this stuff should just be common sense. We already know from physics that to go twice the speed, it takes 8 times the power just to push the atmosphere out of the way.

Long term EV owners (and newbies that have made long road trips) know not to expect anywhere near the EPA range due to their experience. I count myself amongst this group "now", but coming in blind and only having EPA figures to rely on, how much loss should someone expect unless they are informed by those of us who are in the know?

Well, I've said that a single range number is completely meaningless, whether it's for an EV or for an ICE vehicle. What we need is a chart like the one above. All vehicles have characteristics like this and speed hurts ICE vehicle range just as much as it does EV range. The physics works the same regardless of where the energy is coming from. What should be common sense, knowing what we know from high school physics classes, is that you do not ever trust a single range number because there were a lot of assumptions that went into creating that one number.

 

[SageBrush]

I expected a range loss of 15-30 miles, so we were thinking we should get at least 290 miles from a brand new vehicle that's rated at 320 miles. Being completely new to EVs and not knowing anyone who owns one, I had no basis for my estimate.

I don't know how to reconcile those two statements.

The gub'mint cannot tell you expected range, since it does not know how or where or when you drive. Sorry, but that should be obvious. The range tests are offered so that you can compare vehicles, and as such they use a standardized testing method that may (but probably does not) match your driving.

 

[MP3Mike]

The range tests are offered so that you can compare vehicles,

But they are actually worthless for that because they allow at least two different testing methodologies, and then allow adjustments to be applied. They should really change the range tests to be performed/calculated identically for all manufacturers so that they can actually be used to compare vehicles.

This is why I like all of the tests done by YouTubers. Like Bjorn and Out of Spec Motoring. They do exactly the same test, well for as good ad they can control weather/traffic/etc., for every vehicle so that you can actually compare them.

 

[SageBrush]

But they are actually worthless for that because they allow at least two different testing methodologies, and then allow adjustments to be applied

The result of what you mention is that Tesla's headline range is more of an overestimate in the summer, and less of an overestimate in the winter, compared to the manufacturers that use the 2-cycle method. Since winter range is arguably more important to anyone living in a 4 season climate, Tesla is doing right by the consumer.

Moreover, consider this: the EPA winter test does non include charging en-route. So Tesla's superior winter performance using heat scavenging Vs other EVs that do not is not considered at all.

Personally, I would like to see the window sticker display winter and summer test results. These can of course be obtained by any consumer from the EPA website but few take advantage.

 

[Theone8181]

I'd argue any range yesterday should include hvac and be as close to normal as possible (say by having radio on, lights on and that sort if thing) rather than played around to be some sort of pie I the sky measurement. Fwiw my previous cars the speed never made much difference to range, more the type of driving with motorway (your highway) being better than the stop start of city traffic. That could be down to the type if car as I know you guy like your trucks which tend to have the aerodynamics of a brick .

 

[woolymammoth17]

That's the combined range, and you would get it, if you drive it in "mixed" (city and highway) driving from 100% to 0% in ideal conditions with no HVAC usage.

You've never driven an ICE vehicle at 90-100 mph and seen how far the gas gauge drops compared to driving at 70? Seriously? My previous ICE vehicle would normally get a range of about 415 miles per tank but one time I drove at such a high speed that the fuel warning light came on after only about 320 miles. That's a drop in range of almost 100 miles (and almost 25%) just from speed alone. And on top of that, you went all the way from researching the vehicle to purchasing it without once taking a look at range vs speed and weather charts? I didn't have to search too long to find this: Tesla Range Plotted Relative To Speed & Temperature (Graphs) - CleanTechnica

But honestly, this stuff should just be common sense. We already know from physics that to go twice the speed, it takes 8 times the power just to push the atmosphere out of the way.

Well, I've said that a single range number is completely meaningless, whether it's for an EV or for an ICE vehicle. What we need is a chart like the one above. All vehicles have characteristics like this and speed hurts ICE vehicle range just as much as it does EV range. The physics works the same regardless of where the energy is coming from. What should be common sense, knowing what we know from high school physics classes, is that you do not ever trust a single range number because there were a lot of assumptions that went into creating that one number.

This is a shockingly condescending post.

 

[Carson Lohr]

As new Tesla owners we were NOT aware of this! We thought much of the range loss was fixed with the introduction of the heat pump in the model Y. We were indeed surprised and disappointed to find out that a vehicle with an advertised range of 320 miles was unable to make trips from Metro St. Louis (O'Fallon, IL) to Chicago (294 miles), Kansas City (264 miles), Memphis (274 miles) or Nashville (291 miles) during the winter. I seriously doubt if it can make those trips in the summer. Thankfully the supercharger network has us covered for these trips and I love road tripping in my Y. However, new and potential owners should be made aware of more realistic mileage estimates. We did expect some range loss due to cold weather and fast driving (maybe 15-30 miles), but as new owners we had no reason to expect a 50+ mile drop.

Yeah I had this trouble as well. It’s unfortunate how inaccurate it really is

 

[Unlimitedpower]

in Europe we use WLTP (wich is not great either) BUT there are alternative sites that bundled real world tests with different BEV's

Tesla Model 3 met 368 km actieradius | WhatTheRange

De volledige elektrische Tesla Model 3 55kWh. Bekijk het verbruik, de actieradius, elektrische specificaties, auto opties, verwachtte restwaarde en onderhoud.

www.whattherange.com

This is in dutch and i dont know if this exists in english and with (sorry i cant help myself) "retard units" and not metric

i understand that fuel economy / wltp / .... is misleading but in my experience tesla is on the better end of all the BEV players out there.
i actively try to educate people IRL as a semi experienced Plugin / BEV driver, a lot of people will be in for a suprise when they get their first BEV

i have had my troubles but i have never had range anxiety because of bad planning or weather conditions, i dont know why but the navigation planner just works for my road trips in europe.

i did however have range anxiety ONCE because i tried to outsmart the route planner knowing where a new tesla supercharger was located,... i did not have the CCS upgrade at that time and so i couldnt charge there, no other charge infrastructure nearby so i decided to use my slow charger at the house we rented, turns out that older french houses lack decent ground connection a lot of the time and this prevents an EV from charging yay fun times
I drove 20km/h on sh!tty roads to get to a supercharger, nearly not getting there

 

[Msicario]

I was surprised the first time when i went 75-80mph during a trip to Seattle. Surprised, Panicked, disappointed, and came to an understanding and agreement.
No more. I drive ICE for trips.
But it is an amazing in town car, no doubt.

I agree with you 100%; I too learned the hard way on my trips from Anaheim Ca to Chandler AZ… No more EV, but using my 5 year old Prius for long trips.

 

[Unobtanium]

I don't think so. My car is rated at 206mi range and C&D got 190mi out of it in their 75mph test. Thats only about 8% worse, and absolutely nothing about EPA rating is 75mph, lol

 

[afadeev]

I'd be surprised if a high proportion of EV owners were surprised. People are generally well aware that there's a lot of cold-weather range loss.

How so?
What authoritative source would you site that is educating perspective (or current) EV owners about range degradation in cold-weather?
Certainly, not Tesla!

I learned the hard way through previous EV ownership before I got my Model 3.
I suspect the same goes for everyone else around here.

It's one of the negatives that general media will mention.

I believe you meant to type: objective, responsible news media.
Right?

 

[gt2690b]

This is a shockingly condescending post.

true.. he's not totally wrong, though

 

[sightman]

I don't think so. My car is rated at 206mi range and C&D got 190mi out of it in their 75mph test. Thats only about 8% worse, and absolutely nothing about EPA rating is 75mph, lol

Maybe I’m not reading this right. But the car CD tested had a rated range of 310 miles and they got 190 miles. Therefore, that is a calculated 38.7% reduction.

 

[Unobtanium]

Maybe I’m not reading this right. But the car CD tested had a rated range of 310 miles and they got 190 miles. Therefore, that is a calculated 38.7% reduction.

Yes, you read it wrong. The car is rated at 206 epa for 2023, and C&D got 190 at 75mph. Edmunds got 238 in their "real world test". I personally get 255 on my daily 80mi commute. For 2024 the epa re-rated it at 218.