POEV

What the real range of an electric car depends on

WLTP is a laboratory figure: good for comparing cars, rarely what you get on the road. Here is what changes real range, by how much where an official figure exists, and how to estimate it yourself.

The percentages come from the official range calculators of Stellantis, Škoda, Volkswagen, Kia, Cupra, Ford, and Audi: 113 configurations of 47 models, as of , for ordinary cars unless we say otherwise. Where no official source gives a number, we give none.

Temperature

Cold costs range twice: a cold battery gives less, and the cabin heating runs from the same battery. In mixed driving, at −10 °C with the heating on, ordinary cars go 30–40% less than at +23 °C with the air conditioning off if they have a heat pump, and 40–45% less if they do not.

Heat pump

A heat pump warms the cabin with less energy than a simple heater. In the calculator of Stellantis, the same car at −10 °C goes 5–15% less without one than with one. Some versions have it as standard, others as an option or not at all: the version page says which, and on a used car with an optional one, check that this car has it.

Heating and air conditioning

The +23 °C figures above are with the air conditioning off, so on a hot day with it on you go less; the calculators give no general number for that, so neither do we. Warming the cabin while the car is still plugged in spends mains power rather than the battery.

Speed

Air resistance grows quickly with speed, and an electric car goes furthest at low speed. At +23 °C, ordinary cars go 15–35% less on the motorway at 110 km/h than on country roads at 80 km/h, and 0–20% more in town at 40 km/h.

Terrain and load

Climbing costs energy, and braking on the way down returns only part of it; we know of no official general figure for hills. Load has one for vans: in the calculator of Stellantis, a fully loaded van at +23 °C goes 5–15% less than the same van with only the driver.

Tyres and wheels

Larger wheels and wider tyres cost range, which is why many versions have two WLTP figures: the interval across configurations and wheels. A car on large wheels sits closer to the lower figure. Winter tyres usually cost some range too; we have no official figure for it.

Battery age

Range falls together with battery capacity. By POEV Battery Estimate, based on published studies by Aviloo with P3 and by ADAC, cars with a liquid-cooled NMC battery typically lose 5–15% of capacity after 5 years and 80,000 km, and 9–19% after 8 years and 130,000 km (data reliability: medium). The version page gives this for its own battery; a measurement of the car itself says more, under the name of whoever made it.

How to estimate it yourself

  1. Start from the official WLTP figure of the version. If there are two figures and you do not know the configuration, take the lower one.
  2. For mixed driving, take off about 0–20% at +23 °C and 25–55% at −10 °C with the heating on. The version page gives the percentages for that version.
  3. For a motorway trip at 110 km/h, at +23 °C take off 15–40% from WLTP instead.
  4. On a used car, take off what the battery has lost as well: a measured figure if the seller has one, otherwise the estimate on the version page.

For example, a new car with 500 km WLTP: about 390–500 km in mixed driving at +23 °C and 215–380 km at −10 °C with the heating on. A range this wide is honest: it covers different cars, not a promise for one.

More about where the figures come from: How we calculate. Looking for a car: used electric cars in the catalogue.