So, I think I've busted Edmunds and their EV 'real world range' tester/author, Jonathan Elfalan. Here is the article from Tuesday claiming that Tesla's ranges are way over-rated by the EPA:
Edmunds Tested: Electric Car Range and Consumption | Edmunds
Well that looked pretty grim, but it got me remembering - didn't Edmunds do a comparison of 'real world range' between the Model Y and the Taycan back in November 2020? Why yes, yes they did, and it was done by the same author, Jonathan Elfalan. Here it is:
Tesla Model Y vs. Porsche Taycan: Testing EPA Range in the Real World | Edmunds
Hm, that's interesting - why is this article I remember from November 2020 now dated February 3rd, 2021? To the Wayback Machine!
Here is the archived version of the original article as posted on November 19, 2020:
Tesla Model Y vs. Porsche Taycan: Testing EPA Range in the Real World | Edmunds
What's this? It's different! The testing methodology and result for his Model Y range has been altered! Apparently Jonathan didn't know the original article would be archived..
In the original article from November (near the bottom):
Max Battery Usage
A key difference between Tesla and other companies is that it makes more of its battery available for use. Electric vehicle batteries that are constantly charged to their maximum capacity tend to degrade quicker over time, so manufacturers including Porsche place stricter limits on charging and use. Tesla leaves it up to the owner's discretion and simply recommends that the max battery charge only be used for longer trips. Otherwise, it says owners should use a charge of around 90% for daily use.
The 90% charge is what Edmunds followed for its Model Y test as, again, it represents how the majority of Tesla drivers will use their car. Extrapolated out, Edmunds estimates that charging the Y's battery to its maximum capacity would have added 25 miles to its as-tested range.
That section of the article has now been changed to:
Max Battery Usage
A key difference between most luxury and mainstream electric vehicles is that luxury brands typically make more of a car's battery available for use. Electric vehicle batteries that are constantly charged to their maximum capacity tend to degrade quicker over time, so some manufacturers place stricter limits on charging and use. Both Porsche and Tesla leave it up to the owner's discretion and simply recommend that the max battery charge only be used for longer trips. Otherwise, it says owners should use a charge of around 80% to 90% for daily use.
In the interest of aligning our range testing with the EPA's estimates, which take 100% of the nominal battery capacity into account, Edmunds charges all electric vehicles to their maximum allowable capacity. You can view the real-world range for every electric vehicle Edmunds has tested here. For vehicles that have a suggested lower daily charge such as the Taycan and Model Y, there is an asterisk next to the range figure. For others without an asterisk such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the max range can be used on a daily basis.
So in the original article he says he charged the Taycan to 100%, but the Model Y to only 90%, because that's what they suggest in the manual for normal use. Apparently on February 3rd he realized that this was an obviously unfair way to compare the vehicles and he didn't want to risk losing credibility before releasing his new article, so he went back in time and actually charged the Model Y to 100% for the test he did last November! Comparing the altered article to the original we see he has also made up new results for the Model Y range:
Original version:
- TLDR: The Taycan beat the Model Y by a whopping 70 miles in our testing, yet the EPA says it should lose by 88 miles. So what gives?
Altered version:
- TLDR: The Taycan beat the Model Y by 55 miles in our testing, yet the EPA says it should lose by 88 miles. So what gives?
Looks like he gave the Model Y an extra 15 miles of range. How generous of him! But, oh no, he screwed up. Looking further through the article we see:
Original version:
The 2020 Porsche Taycan 4S, an all-new electric luxury sport sedan, was way off from the EPA estimated 203 miles of range in Edmunds' real-world driving test. Edmunds observed 323 miles and saw a better energy consumption of 32.3 kilowatt-hours of electricity used every 100 miles of driving, versus the EPA's 49 kWh/100 miles.
In contrast, the 2020 Tesla Model Y Performance with 21-inch wheels — the brand's newest small SUV — did exceptionally well in the EPA's test, earning a range estimate of 291 miles and a power consumption rating of 28 kWh/100 miles using the maximum range mode. While Edmunds saw comparable efficiency in its real-world test, at 28.4 kWh/100 miles, the overall range result of 253 miles was slightly lower than the EPA estimate.
Altered version:
The 2020 Porsche Taycan 4S, an all-new electric luxury sport sedan, was way off from the EPA estimated 203 miles of range in Edmunds' real-world driving test. Edmunds observed 323 miles and saw a better energy consumption of 32.3 kilowatt-hours of electricity used every 100 miles of driving, versus the EPA's 49 kWh/100 miles.
In contrast, the 2020 Tesla Model Y Performance with 21-inch wheels — the brand's newest small SUV — did exceptionally well in the EPA's test, earning a range estimate of 291 miles and a power consumption rating of 28 kWh/100 miles using the maximum range mode. While Edmunds saw comparable efficiency in its real-world test, at 28.4 kWh/100 miles, the overall range result of 263 miles was lower than the EPA estimate.
So in one place in the article he gave the Model Y an extra 15 miles of range, but here he's only giving them an extra 10 miles. Woops! Interestingly, in the original article he even states that if he had charged the Model Y to 100% it probably would have given the Model Y an extra 25 miles of range (makes sense since that's about 10%). In the altered version he only gives them 10 or 15 miles depending on where you look, so he is clearly biased against Tesla and wants to give them as little range as possible in his new made up numbers.
So unless I'm missing something, he's altered his methodology for a past range test and made up new numbers go with it. This is the same guy running these new tests, where he could be accelerating and braking in different ways for the different test vehicles, or just be making up numbers entirely.
By the way February 4th, the day he altered that old article? That was the day before all that unusual put option activity on Friday February 5th. He then released his new article on Tuesday. Someone made a lot of money on those puts!