- CarWow drove five more electric SUVs until they ran out of battery.
- The EVs performed very similarly in terms of efficiency, but real-world range differed significantly from what the WLTP cycle estimated they were capable of.
- These types of tests show just how flawed the overall range estimations of EVs can be compared to their real-world achievements.
The only modern EV that really makes my ears perk up when I hear “range anxiety” is the Volkswagen ID.Buzz. Outside of that, EVs have largely solved that problem for people who live in areas where public fast charging is easily accessible. Well, at least on paper they have.
The folks over at CarWow might be a bit skeptical when it comes to stated range, especially when that range is estimated using the rather forgiving Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP). That’s why they’ve put a number of EVs through the ringer to figure out how much real-world range they actually get—and they’ve done it yet again with a fresh new batch.
In CarWow’s latest video, host Mat Watson puts an Audi Q6 e-tron, BMW iX, Genesis GV, Kia EV9 and Polestar 3 to the test.
What CarWow found was interesting, at least to an EV nerd like me. Unsurprisingly, EV range was directly linked to the vehicle’s overall battery size. However, the strange bit is that the real-world efficiency of every car in the test was nearly the same. But before we get into the specifics, let’s talk about what the video actually tested.
CarWow drove each car until it ran out of juice. It then recorded this number as the EV’s real-world range. And using that number, it could calculate two very meaningful statistics:
First is the vehicle’s overall efficiency—this is pretty similar to judging a gas car’s MPG rating. Essentially, it’s a measurement of how many miles the EV can travel using a single kilowatt-hour of energy from its high-voltage battery. More miles equals more efficiency—it’s a good read of how buttoned-up an EV platform really is, from powertrain to aerodynamics and any other systems that sap power from the car’s battery.
The more interesting statistic is the delta between the actual range that the vehicle achieved in real-world conditions and the range estimated by the WLTP. Here are the results of CarWow’s latest test:
| Battery Size (kWh) | Observed Range (Miles) | Observed Efficiency (mi/kWh) | Advertised Range (European WLTP cycle, in Miles) | % of Advertised WLTP Range Achieved | |
| Genesis GV70 | 80 | 279 | 3.49 | 298 | 94% |
| Kia EV9 | 99.8 | 329 | 3.30 | 360 |
91% |
| Polestar 3 | 107 | 390 | 3.64 | 439 | 89% |
| BMW iX xDrive60 | 109.1 | 366 | 3.35 | 436 | 84% |
| Audi Q6 e-tron Quattro | 94.9 | 325 | 3.42 | 388 | 84% |
The clear winner here depends on what you care about most. If you want the most overall real-world range or the most efficient vehicle, the Polestar 3 wins at 390 miles or range and 3.64 miles driven per kWh of electricity used. But if it’s how close an EV performed to its WLTP rating, the Genesis GV70 comes out on top by delivering 94% of its advertised range.
Now, we mentioned that CarWow did this before—quite a few times, actually. In fact, it has a whole list of EVs that it keeps track of. I charted a few examples below from December 2024 onward, which take into consideration nine other EVs from Audi, Ford, Kia, Lotus, Polestar, Porsche and Tesla. Let’s see how they compare.
The Tesla Model Y remained king of efficiency at 3.92 miles per kWh. But it performed nearly the worst when comparing its real-world range against its advertised WLTP range. It’s not just the European cycle where Tesla ranks low; it’s also the worst-performing when compared to the EPA-rated range out of any vehicle on the list.
| Model | Battery Size (kWh) | Observed Range (Miles) | Observed Efficiency (mi/kWh) | Advertised Range (European WLTP cycle, in Miles) | % of Advertised WLTP Range Achieved |
| Genesis GV70 | 80 | 279 | 3.49 | 298 | 94% |
| Kia EV9 | 99.8 | 329 | 3.30 | 360 |
91% |
| Polestar 4 | 94 | 333 | 3.54 | 372 | 90% |
| Polestar 3 | 107 | 390 | 3.64 | 439 | 89% |
| BMW iX xDrive60 | 109.1 | 366 | 3.35 | 436 | 84% |
| Audi Q6 e-tron Quattro | 94.9 | 325 | 3.42 | 388 | 84% |
| Porsche Macan | 95 | 318 | 3.35 | 386 | 82% |
| Kia EV6 | 80 | 280 | 3.5 | 347 | 81% |
| Tesla Model S Plaid | 95 | 295 | 3.1 | 373 | 79% |
| Tesla Model Y | 75 | 294 | 3.92 | 373 | 79% |
| Audi Q4 e-tron | 77.4 | 268 | 3.46 | 336 | 79% |
| Ford Explorer EV | 82 | 291 | 3.55 | 374 | 78% |
| Audi RS e-tron GT | 97 | 251 | 2.59 | 371 | 68% |
| Lotus Emeya R | 99 | 193 | 1.95 | 301 | 64% |
The Polestar 3 also performed well at 3.62 mi/kWh, followed by the Ford Explorer EV, Polestar 4 and Kia EV6, respectively. It’s worth noting that efficiency is probably the best metric when comparing new vehicles, as it plots the observed real-world range against the usable battery size.
But of all the vehicles tested, the Polestar 3 remains the overall range king. This EV managed to go a whopping 390 miles before fully depleting its battery. That’s over 6% longer than its next-closest competitor, the BMW iX xDrive60, and more than double the distance that the Lotus Emeya R managed to achieve (is CarWow’s reigning champ for most disappointing real-world range). The Polestar 3 and BMW iX xDrive60 had the two largest usable battery capacities at 107 kWh and 109.1 kWh.
My big takeaway from this video: The methods used by automakers to estimate EV range are flawed. Even SAE International has pushed data that aligns with this, noting in 2023 that EVs fail to meet EPA estimates more often than gas-powered cars.
If you haven’t already, scroll back up to the top of this page and give a watch to CarWow’s video. It’s long, but it’s worth soaking it all in—there’s so much more than just comparing overall range in the video, and it’s especially helpful if you’re shopping around for EVs before the EV tax credit ends in the U.S. later this month.
