Electric cars have up to a third less range than advertised in real-life conditions, investigation finds

Electric cars have up to a third less battery life than advertised when driven in real-world conditions, research has found.

The official figures provided by automakers for how many miles an electric vehicle can travel on a full charge are based on a standardized test conducted only in warm conditions.

But an investigation of What car The magazine has found that when cars are driven in the real world, especially in colder temperatures, their batteries drain much faster.

The magazine imitated how motorists actually use their cars by parking twelve vehicles outside in the cold overnight. The team then drove the cars around a 60-mile test track in Bedfordshire until their batteries died.

On average, the range of electric cars was 29.9 per cent less than advertised, with the £57,000 Lexus UX 300e Takumi recording the biggest shortfall – 100 miles short of its official figure of 273 miles.

The Lexus RZ 450e Takumi had the second largest deficit and died 92 miles short of the advertised range of 251 miles.

The Volkswagen ID 7 Pro Match, priced at £51,550, had an actual range of 254 miles, 33.6 per cent less than advertised and the third highest deficit.

However, the best performer of the 12 cars tested was the £68,810 Mercedes-Benz EQE 300 Sport Edition.

The car’s battery died after 300 miles, but this was still a 21 percent shortfall from what was originally advertised.

The magazine’s editor, Steve Huntingford, said the experiment was a much better way to test the capability of electric vehicles than official methods.

His team now regularly tests the range of electric vehicles in “real-world” driving environments and found that there is an 18 percent difference in battery life between winter and summer temperatures.

Mr. Huntingford stated, according to The Telegraph: ‘We do it every summer (and) every winter because obviously there is a considerable difference in how the battery efficiency works depending on the cold weather.

“We leave them outside in cold conditions (overnight) for ambient temperature… so the batteries are subject to dropping to a lower temperature and are the worst possible conditions for testing.”

Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “Consumers should take official figures with a grain of salt.”

He added that the test results should not be surprising, given that driving style and weather conditions can greatly affect the range of any vehicle.

Car manufacturers must laboratory test new electric vehicles according to the globally harmonized light vehicle test procedure (WLTP).