The real world range of popular EVs put to the test

Comparison runs popular electric cars to empty to see how far they’ll really go and what happens when they run flat

Not a week goes by without one surveys declaring that EV buyers are no longer bothered by range anxiety while another is insisting they are still put off electric cars because they’re scared they’ll run out of charge.

The truth is that for many motorists the current crop and upcoming of EVs have plenty of range for everyday use and there’s a growing rapid charge infrastructure to help keep them moving.

However, there’s still a rightful amount of scepticism around the official ranges of these cars and questions over how far they can travel on one charge in real-world conditions.

The test compared six of the UK's most popular EVs

To answer these questions car buying platform carwow decided to put six EVs with some of the longest claimed ranges to the test to see which would travel furthest and which got closest to its official figures.

As carwow’s Mat Watson admits, not many EV drivers are going to risk running their cars’ batteries completely flat but the test did produce some interesting results, showing that you don’t have to pay huge money for decent performance.

Mainstream versus luxury

The test took six cars from mainstream and luxury brands - the Nissan Leaf, Kia e-Niro, Audi e-tron, Jaguar I-Pace, Mercedes-Benz EQC and Tesla Model 3 - and, after charging them to 100 per cent and leaving them overnight, headed north from London.

The Kia e-Niro came closest to its official range and covered the second-longest distance overall

Each car’s air con was set at 20 degrees, a mobile phone connected to the infotainment system and the cruise control set to the motorway speed limit.

Winners and losers

In terms of pure distance travelled, the Tesla came out on top, covering 270 miles before running out of charge. That’s not necessarily surprising given that it had the largest battery and longest official range.

However, it was Kia’s e-Niro which came closest to matching its official figures, its 255 miles was 90 per cent of the claimed 282. In contrast, the Tesla, with a claimed range of 348, covered just 78 per cent of the official distance.

The Tesla Model 3 covered the furthest distance

The Nissan Leaf was the best performing after the Kia, managing 208 miles or 87 per cent of its claimed 239 miles.

At the opposite end of the table, the Mercedes-Benz EQC managed just 194 miles on one charge, 75 per cent of its official maximum range, just ahead of the Jaguar I-Pace.

Make and model	WLTP claimed range (miles	Range on test	% of claimed range achieved
Kia e-Niro	282	255	90
Nissan Leaf	239	208	87
Audi e-tron	255	206	81
Tesla Model 3	348	270	78
Jaguar I-Pace	292	223	76
Mercedes EQC	259	194	75

Running flat

The Mercedes EQC covered the shortest distance and fell furthest short of its claimed range

To see what happens when the charge read-out hits zero, the testers drove each car on the motorway until they neared zero per cent charge then left and drove close to a charging point until the car stopped and could go no further. Five of the six vehicles were able to keep going for a significant amount of time despite showing a completely empty battery. However, when they did completely stop, most of the vehicles ‘locked up’ and proved difficult to move.

Mat Watson said: “We know that ‘range anxiety’ is a big concern for people thinking about switching from petrol to electric – no one wants to get stranded. But our test showed you could drive an average of 226 miles and all of the cars were able to keep going after their systems claimed their batteries were totally flat.

“On average, only 81 per cent of the manufacturer-claimed range was achieved and, if you allow a battery to run truly flat, electric cars can be difficult to move. But that’s a similar figure to the percentage of potential range you’d get in a petrol or diesel car. Plus, in the real-world, these cars’ sat-nav systems would direct you to a nearby charging station long before you ground to a halt.”