The world’s largest EV real-world range test was conducted out in Norway last week. The ‘El Prix’ is held in winter and summer each year, and is conducted by the Norwegian Automobile Foundation (NAF).
This year’s test included 25 electric cars, all of which must do the same route, and abide by the same rules – which include having the climate control set to 20 degC, the drive mode in whichever is the default for the car. Waypoints along the 250-mile route – which feeds into a smaller loop that longer range cars will continue around until the battery is drained - must also be hit within a certain timeframe so that organisers know that drivers are maintaining the speed limit.
Basically, the El Prix is a very regimented test that’s designed to show what electric cars can really do in real world conditions. I know this, because I went along and shadowed the official El Prix test cars in a Kia EV2 Long Range, to see what sort of range we could get under these real-world range conditions. But more on that later this week!
The results from the official range test are in, and the BMW iX3 went the furthest – perhaps unsurprisingly as it is also the car with the biggest battery and longest claimed range. It managed 485 miles (781km), beating the claimed range on that particular test car by 1.5%.
However, of the 11 cars that exceeded the claimed WLTP range, it was the Xpeng X9 that did it by the biggest margin. It covered just over 401 miles (646km), which is 11.4% above its claimed range. The Kia EV2 Standard Range was next, surpassing its claimed range figure by 5.4% with a test range of 202 miles (325km).
Other notable results are the new Mercedes GLC 400 Electric, which managed 368 miles (593km) – beating its claimed figure by 3.4%, while the Smart #5 and Kia PV5 also exceeded the claimed figures.
The Hyundai Ioniq 9, Mercedes CLA and Polestar 3 were the worst performers, as they fell short of the claimed WLTP range by 5.7, 4.7 and 3.8% respectively.
