EPA range for EVs isn’t a highway number

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The EPA’s fuel economy ratings have city, highway, and mixed categories, but range ratings for EVs include only the latter. There’s a reason for that.

A new paper published by SAE International and co-authored by Car and Driver testing director Dave VanderWerp emphasizes that the EPA’s combined EV range rating is not a number that reflects road driving. The paper, which uses Car and Driver’s real-world highway testing methodology, shows that EVs do not meet their range of EPA ratings for exclusively on-road driving.

The EPA has never referred to its range rating as a highway number, and research shows why. In the Car and Driver real-world road test, which involved driving at a steady 75 mph, over 350 internal combustion vehicles averaged 4.0% better fuel economy than their official ratings, but the average EV was less than 12. .5%, the magazine noted in an article about the paper.

The Volkswagen ID.4 is built in Chattanooga

The Volkswagen ID.4 is built in Chattanooga

The paper’s authors explain the difference between the EPA rating and real-world highway coverage. One is the fact that the combined figures are based on city and highway figures, but are weighted at 55% for city figures, generally a stronger category for EVs. As we’ve pointed out, the EPA EV city/highway ratings are a better guide to range if you really know usable capacity.

The Car and Driver protocol for driving at a steady 75 mph can also remove the crutches for EVs. EPA testing involves acceleration and deceleration. That’s bad for internal combustion vehicles, which are typically most efficient at steady speeds, but it doesn’t hurt EVs too much, as it allows them to take advantage of regenerative braking.

We also suggest that cold weather should also be better factored into the estimated EV range, as it affects the usable amount differently depending on the model. Wind direction can also have a big impact.

In the end, consistency in reach and meeting expectations may be more important than how high the reach number itself is. But being aware of the nature of EPA numbers helps make some real-world results—for a Lucid Air, for example, or some Tesla models—even more impressive.

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