Mercedes & BMW Big Overachievers On EV Range
When we discuss electric cars, trucks, and SUVs, one of the first things we discuss is their official range ratings. Unfortunately, these range ratings are not uniformly created and are not uniformly accurate. Therefore, some electric cars do better than expected in the real world and some do worse than expected.
The good news is that Consumer Reports has tested a bunch of electric cars in the same scenarios (the key factor being a constant speed of 70 mph) and provided its results for all to see. “Real-world comparative tests are critical to understand if an EV is right for you,” Jake Fisher, senior director of CR’s auto test center, said. “That’s why we purchase our vehicles like a consumer would and drive them at highway speeds like a consumer would on a road trip.” The comparison is fascinating.
The big winners are Mercedes and BMW. They routinely surpassed expectations, by a lot. Note, though, that Consumers Reports only tested certain trims of the 22 models it tested, and different trims may perform quite differently compared to their official EPA range ratings.
The four Mercedes models Consumer Reports tested got between 29 miles and 72 miles more driving range on a full charge than their EPA ratings indicated. The BMW i4 M50 got 47 more miles of range than its EPA rating and the BMW iX xDrive50 got 46 more miles of range than its EPA rating.
The big losers were the Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat Extended Range (getting 50 miles less range than the EPA rating), the Lucid Air Touring (40 miles less than its EPA rating), and the Tesla Model S Long Range (39 miles less than its EPA rating).
Here’s a full chart from Consumer Reports:
Consumer Reports is pushing the EPA to start including EV range ratings specifically for highway driving, something not indicated at all by the current generic range ratings the EPA publishes. “EPA’s testing procedures date back to the early days of EVs, and what’s included on the window sticker is partially controlled by laws written decades ago for gas cars,” says Chris Harto, senior energy policy analyst at CR. “CR has asked EPA to start the process of modernizing these regulations to help provide more useful consumer information about today’s EVs, including highway range.”
I know government agencies aren’t known for being the quickest, most nimble, most innovative entities on the planet, but with the fast-growing popularity of electric cars over the past decade, one would think that the EPA would have gotten around to requiring and publishing highway range ratings by now. Maybe in 2024? Of course, if Republicans gain control of the EPA again in the next presidential election, they will do their best to their best to cripple or close the EPA.
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