Question of the week: Why is my new EV showing less than the advertised range?
Fri, 27 Dec 2024
Dear Honest John,
"I took delivery of a new Kia Niro EV 4 last week and I have charged to 100% twice giving a shown range of 254 miles, not the advertised 285 miles. More worrying within a mile of driving the range drops to 234.
Our old Kia Niro which was collected the day before consistently charged up to 280 - 290 miles during the four years we had the car. Can you please advise to why this is happening?"
- BK
Dear BK,
Range figures provided by manufacturers are given under the European WLTP testing procedure, in the same way that fuel consumption figure are provided for petrols, diesel and hybrids.
These figures are always provided with a disclaimer, such as the following from Kia: 'Range figures are determined according to the standardized EU measurement procedure (WLTP). Individual driving style and other factors, such as speed, outside temperature, topography and the use of electricity-consuming devices/units, have an influence on the real life range and can possibly reduce it.'
These figures are designed to provide a comparison between vehicles rather than an absolute minimum that would be provided under all circumstances - the expected range of the same vehicle would differ between the same fully charged car on a mild summer's day and a harsh winter morning where the vehicle's heated seats, lights and air conditioning are all running, never mind the variances of driving style, vehicle load and the potential small variances between individual vehicles coming off the production line.
It is also worth bearing in mind that as the vehicle is less than a week old, the maximum potential range will change over time, as it is a calculation based on the charge of the battery and electric consumption from previous journeys, so continued economical driving has the potential to increase this figure.
In the same way that we would not advise a petrol or diesel car owner to plan a journey based on the expected range of the vehicle without stopping to refuel, running an EV down to less than 10% charge is not advisable. It is also worth considering that EV manufacturers generally recommend only charging to 100% when necessary and instead charging to 80% as often as possible in order to preserve battery life.
What electric estate car do you recommend?
