How far can electric cars REALLY go in the summer? We drive 12 until they DIE! | What Car?

oh that's absolutely gutting brilliant the end is nine electric cars don't like it when it's cold and wet and neither do we but how much better are they on a warm summer's day we've got 12 electric cars the conditions are ideal we charge them all up to full and we're going to drive them until they die in this video we're going to be finding out exactly what happens when electric cars run out of charge and how far each of these EVS will really go in pretty much ideal weather conditions and then at the end we're going to Crunch all the numbers to tell you how efficient they are as well but before we start make sure you subscribe to the channel for lots more videos like this one and for a great deal on your next new car head to walk [Music] car. com now we want to make sure this is as scientific as possible we've got 12 cars and we do want to put them all in the same condition to start so we've got to make sure that every car we have on test is at its manufacturers recommended tire pressures if they're too low the extra friction could have a negative effect on the Range figure that we record but we don't want to overinflate them either we've also made sure that all the cars are set to 21° when it comes to their climate control in terms of Drve modes they've all been put into their respective Eco settings we've also made sure to reset the trip RP computers now obviously it wouldn't be safe to deliberately run cars out of charge on the public road so we recreated real world conditions at HBA Myra Proving Ground in warship we followed a simple test route of roughly 19 mies which included 2. 7 M of simulated stop start Urban driving 5.

5 m at a steady 50 mph and 11 M at a constant 70 the rational for the high percentage of high-speed cruising is that drivers who want to travel long distances in one hit are likely to be using the most Network the evening before the test the 12 cars were charged to 100% And then left out in the open overnight for roughly 14 hours in 15 to 21° C ambient conditions and then just before we started the test they were all plugged in again to check they were fully charged and the headlights were switched on the cars would be driven repeatedly around our test route in Convoy with driver changes and a switch in running order at the end of every lap to make things as Fair as possible [Music] so will we've done a very similar test to this in cold wintry conditions now we've got a lovely warm summer's day what cars have we got lined up for this well we have 12 cars in total and the car I'm driving right now is the poar 2 it's had quite a few updates recently obviously it's been on sale for a few years and one of those updates is changing it from front-wheel drive to rear wheel drive so the long range single motor version that I'm in has an official range of 406 miles that's the longest of any of these EVs and actually one of the furthest of any EV that you can buy at the moment wow so it's going to be a long day driving that around here that's for sure and it's also probably going to be a long day for the Renault Scenic which is a new electric SUV and it will be interesting to see how that does because Renault really was a bit of a Trailblazer for electric cars releasing the Zoe long before many other manufacturers released their first EVS but it never really felt like they kicked off on from there however we know that that Scenic is comfortable decent inside reasonably practical it's got a very long official range if it can deliver a long Real World Range then it could be one of the more recommendable electric cars out there okay after that in the official range leaderboard is the kir ev9 it's a new fully electric 7 seat SUV from Kia and everything about it is Big it's the biggest car here it's got a big range and a pretty big price tag as well but it's still quite a bit cheaper than the Audi q6 Ron we've got a four-wheel drive launch edition model which costs 86,000 but it is important to point out there are cheaper versions of the q6 you can have a rear wheeel drive model that has an even longer range but this launch edition should still be one of the last cars going towards the end of the day the BMW I5 should also be one of the last cars on the road today it is of course BMW's electric 5 series and we already know it's it's very comfortable it's nice inside and it's good to drive and the good thing about having this car in the test is that we used exactly the same I5 in our winter range test earlier this year so that means we'll be able to compare and contrast the results in colder conditions with what the I5 achieved today everything so far has been pretty big but we've also got the family hatchback sized cpra born we tested it before in previous range tests but this is the first time we've included the hot VZ version it has more than 320 brake horsepower for seriously nippy acceleration but it also has a bigger 79 K battery than other versions we've had before to help make it a better tool for tackling long Journeys our test car was fitted with optional 20-in tornado Wheels which knock 31 m off the official range but it still officially can go more than 300 mil that's the most expensive version of the cpra born you can buy but even the cheapest Tesla Model 3 can officially do well over 300 M on a charge we've had plenty of model 3s in these tests before but this is the first time we've included the entry-level rear wheel drive model and we've got a sneaking suspicion that it will prove one of the most efficient cars here if not most efficient of all next up the Volvo ex30 a new small electric SUV from Volvo which has had a few software issues since its launch in fact the Swedish manufacturers even had to give some refunds to customers but if you've got a version that doesn't have any glitches then it's an impressive electric car and and hopefully it will show that it's got a decent Real World Range as well arrival to the ex30 after that it's the Hyundai K Electric it's another small SUV arrival not only to the x30 but also cars like the smart hashtag 1 now the first generation of the con electric was a real Trailblazer in the world of electric cars and this second generation model has an even better official range our bottom two cars are pretty far behind the others first up is the perso e308 SW which is the estate version of the new e308 and although its range isn't great it's still better than the Mini Cooper SE there is a version of the new electric mini which has an even smaller battery offering even less range but even this bigger battery version has the worst official range of all the new cars that we have here what you're in now doesn't look particularly new dog what is it well you probably recognize this as a Tesla Model S and that's exactly what it is but you can't buy a new one in the U K anymore there are though Lots on the used market and the one that we've got here was first registered in November 2015 and it's got a few miles on the clock okay how many miles it has done 258,000 miles which is further than the distance from here to the Moon okay more than a quarter of a million miles surely that has to die first battery degradation is going to be terrible right well it's true I'm not expecting to be driving this for particular particularly long today but when this was new it had a very very long official range you'll remember yes although it is important to remember that back then there was a different type of official range test called the nedc and that was even less representative than the wltp test that we have today so yes although the official range might be more than 300 miles that wouldn't be the case if it were tested new today and of course it isn't you is it it's done quarter of a million miles yes you're right I am fully expecting this to be the first car that dies today but if it does manage to beat one of these new electric cars that we will have here then that will be a pretty embarrassing result for [Music] them now if you live in Barcelona or California summer time to you will mean hot weather and water W sunshine in the UK things are a little bit more unpredictable so it might be hot it might be sunny but it might also be raining and pretty mild at the moment we've got something in the middle so it is sunny today but it's not that warm at the moment it is 23° it's fluctuated a little bit throughout the day but there's barely any window round and because it's not too hot the air conditioning systems in these cars aren't having to work too hard to keep the Interiors at 21° so in other words it's pretty much ideal weather conditions for these cars to show off how far they can go on a charge [Music] so this is my first go in this 250,000 M Tesla Model S and you know what of course it doesn't feel like a new car but it doesn't feel like a car that's done more than a quarter of a million miles and is 9 years old either because although there are some creaks and rattles from the interior and this steering wheel is incredibly shiny looks like someone's given it a Polish it doesn't feel too baggy to drive feels reasonably tight I'm sure it's had plenty of Parts over the years of course and I think that just shows how far ahead of its time the model S was because if you think when this car was launched back in 2014 other EVS included the Nissan Leaf the BMW i3 cars that couldn't even manage 100 miles on a charge well this car has already done 100 miles today and according to the battery level indicator it has about 50% of its battery remaining so if it goes on to do around about 200 miles today then I don't think it's going to be that far behind that e308 in fact it might even beat [Music] it so we've had many hours at the wheel now I'm back in the model S and I think it's crunch time my range is telling me that I've got 13 M remaining which is not very far and probably not enough for an entire a lap of what we've been doing today will how many miles have you got left in the pjo it is squeaky bum time I'm down to 12 miles 12 miles remaining and obviously we're on a 20 M circuit so I think there's a good chance I'm going to break down on this Loop how about yourself I've got 13 miles left that's close what about the mini yeah I'm a little worried that I'm going to be the first to get the wooden spoon because I am down to 11 miles already it's going to be close and just for some context what is the pole star 2 on at this point the poar has got 120 miles left okay so I don't think the pole star is going to lose I've got to admit earlier on I thought the perso was guaranteed to die first but it is really tight now between three cars the model S the mini and this all within a mile of each other on predicted range but of course it's going to come down to how accurate their predicted ranges are because of course some EVS have more of a buffer when they get down to zero miles reading so it's going to be extremely tight and at this stage if I'm not last I'll take that a few minutes later right this could be the beginning of the end we're going up to 70 M an hour I'm showing 3 miles remaining my range readout has disappeared so at the moment I've just got a couple of dashes I have no idea how many miles I've got left I'm Flying Blind here but at the moment I am managing to maintain 70 miles hour so I'm keeping up with the Convoy although I'm getting various warnings telling me my battery level is low so I could die at any moment What's the mini down to so I've just done one lap there showing zero miles and drive power reduced and I'm now just starting to feel it lose power oh the mini might lose I am also losing power it's saying the battery level is critical performance reduced I've got a little toris there and I am just maintaining 70 mph but if I drop below that it takes an age to accelerate back up again so the end is nine how are you getting on dog any Tes I've been showing zero miles for quite a while but I've got no restriction in performance at all okay I think that's me that my car is losing power and I cannot keep up anymore bye Neil bye I also cannot keep up I'm at 63 mph and 4 yes will can you get out my way please bye will we've both comprehensively been beaten by a 10year old Tesla which is quite embarrassing come on Wow 258,000 mil 9 years old and it looks like it's gone further than a brand new Persia E38 ssw and a brand new Mini Cooper Electric oh battery power very low heating and AC reduced battery charge level too low the end is near I'm doing 39 mph that speed is falling very very slowly this is a slow death it's down to 37 mil an hour now but at the moment I think I might not be lost because NE in the mini he hasn't overtaken me yet and I know he's struggling as well my foot is now flat to the floor and my speed is sinking vehicle shutting down pull over safely I don't think it's going to make it down this straight 18 mph many warnings battery level critical performance reduced oh here we go I'm laughing this is going to be so satisfying oh this is more embarrassing Here Comes Doug in the Tesla so I'll give him a little wave bye oh no but this is it this is it isn't it this is M48 uh in the blue mini calling to be recovered uh I have stopped and I've got my hazards on I'm still in the car and I'm sat in the slow lane this is it this is it and I've stopped battery too low charge immediately to ensure vehicle will start electrical system power reduced and that is it I have become a brick so I've got my hazards on but the speed has just increased albeit from 8 m hour to 10 m hour so this has not quite given up yet and I've just just heard that not only has Neil died in the mini no idea where he is on the track but Doug has also come to a stop so he overtook me but I must be gaining on him because I'm still moving and he stopped so this might even do better than second from bottom we will find out very [Music] shortly right so what did we learn there well we had thought thought that it was perhaps going to be the model S that was going to lose this test overall but it wasn't instead it was the Mini Cooper SE which died after 211 mil recording an average efficiency of 4. 3 m per Kow now it was last of the 12 cars that we had here but that distance 211 Mi is almost twice as far as the previous mini electric managed in a winter range test that we did earlier and it was the second most efficient car of everything that we had here so it's not an embarrassing performance at all no that's pretty impressive and as you saw it was very close between the mini and the perso E38 but the e308 just edged it it did a mile further in total so it managed a total of 212 miles and it wasn't quite as efficient as the mini but it still averaged 4. 2 m per kwatt hour so again reasonably impressive and then it was the turn of the model S to go and it managed 213 miles so it really was so close between those three cars that went out first now the model s90d back in 2015 had an official any DC range of 342 Mi at the time but as we explained earlier any DC was even less believable than wltp is today and that car has done more than a quarter of a million miles so 2133 mil on a full charge isn't really that bad and we also charged the battery up to full at the end of this test and it showed that the battery has lost around 133% of its original capacity which again really isn't a particularly bad showing at all considering how old it is and how many miles that it's done however it was the least efficient car of everything that we had here so it averaged just 2.

9 m per Kow hour which isn't great okay so we saw it was really close between those first three dropouts and after that almost 30 mil went by without any further drama the Volvo ex30 was next to fall out of the running though so that managed a total of 242 miles relatively disappointing 18% shy of its official range but efficiency wasn't too bad it was 3. 8 m per Kow hour two cars ground to a halt at 255 miles and that was the Conor electric and the model 3 but it was the Tesla that just edged it by a few hundred yards and it's also important to note that we had the cheapest Tesla that you could buy versus the most expensive version of the Kona the model model 3 was also as we suspected the most efficient car in the entire test and it returned 4. 4 m per kwatt hour whereas the Kona posted a fa to midling 3.

9 m per Kow that is really impressive efficiency for that model 3 isn't it the most expensive of the entire 12 was next to d so the new q6 rron as we've already explained there are longer range versions of this car there are cheaper versions as well but the launch edition that we had for the test fell 16% short of its official range and it managed a total of 289 Mi now you could argue that that's still plenty for most buyers almost 300 miles from a charge but there's no real excuse for the q6 is hugely disappointing efficiency so it managed just 3 m per kwatt hour and that was the worst figure of all of the new cars that we had in the test the cpra born was more efficient than that and even though it's considerably less money than the q6 Eon IT actually went further on a full charge as well so it managed 294 miles okay so the final five cars remaining all past 300 miles and that proves that in the summer at least plenty of modern electric cars can get you from London to Land's End without you needing to stop for a charge so I think that is something worth noting one of those cars was the BMW I5 so that managed a total of 310 Mi and it came closest of all actually to matching its official range it fell just 8% short this exact car as as we mentioned earlier took part in our winter range test back in February and there it still managed a respectable 253 miles and obviously the conditions then were much cooler and it was actually very rainy on that day as well but that does show you how much difference weather can play in how far your electric car gets between Chargers absolutely and now we're at the business end of things and in third place it was the 7 seat Kia ev9 which had the biggest battery of anything that we had here and it fin finally ground to a halt after an impressive 314 Mi but the brick-like silhouette that it has meant that efficiency was less remarkable at 3. 3 m per K now before we reveal the winner what have we learned from the test so far well one of the things we've learned is that the trip computers on electric cars shouldn't necessarily be relied upon our efficiency figures that we've given you so far were all based on the achieved range on the day of the test divided by the usable capacity of the battery but obviously these electric cars do have their own trip computers that show a figure and we recorded those figures for comparison now we found that the efficiency meters in six of the cars in the test were pretty accurate because the readings were accurate within 3% but there were some bigger discrepancies so the model S that you've already mentioned loads of Miles quite old but that was wildly optimistic about its energy use so it was claiming 3. 4 m per kilowatt hour but it was actually averaging only 2.

9 m per kilowatt so that's an error of more than 15% and the energy meter in the model 3 that was also on the optimistic side albeit by a much smaller 4% on the other hand the Hyundai Kona the Kia ev9 the Pulstar 2 and the Volvo ex30 all claimed they were delivering worse efficiency than they actually were by between 5 and 8% and efficiency is very important isn't it it perhaps wasn't a few years ago when electricity prices were dirt cheap and any electric car cost considerably less to run than an equivalent petrol or a diesel but today Energy prices are incredibly high they look set to stay high well into the future and the difference in running cost between one electric car and another can be huge that's absolutely right so if we take the Tesla Model 3 rear wheel drive that was the most efficient of all of the 12 cars in the test if you were to charged that up exclusively at home at the current energy price cap so that's 22 4 P per kwatt hour then you would spend just over 500 on electricity every 10,000 Mi if you were to do all your charging at a public charger let's say 79p per kwatt at a grid serve now we know it's a Tesla so obviously it has access to the supercharging network prices there are generally a little bit cheaper but for fair comparison we'll use 79p per kilowatt then the cost of that 10,000 Mi actually Rockets to 1795 and if we took the Audi q6e truck which is the least efficient car on this test if you did 10,000 m in that and charged only at home it would cost you 745 and if you charged only using public charges then that would go up to 2,633 well now obviously it's not a direct comparison because they're different types of cars we're looking at here a model 3 and a q6 eon but it does show you that you could potentially be spending more than £800 extra over 10,000 Miles by choosing one electric car over another that is true although it's also worth pointing out that many electric car owners opt to sign up to a cheap overnight tariff and what that means is you get cheaper Energy prices overnight in return for slightly higher energy prices during the day if you do that then potentially you can reduce your overall cost and as a result the difference between the cars that we've got here today but still efficiency is a really important factor that not all electric car buys think about absolutely and I think maybe the final takeaway point from this test is the fact that not all very old very high mileed used electric cars should be avoided at all costs because actually the model S that we had had covered more than 250,000 Mi it was 9 years old and yet it managed more than 200 miles on a full charge which is a pretty good result and it's only lost 133% of its original capacity and on the used market today it would probably be worth something like £9,000 perhaps yeah it's hard to put an exact price on it because it would obviously depend on whether it had free supercharging access some early model S versions did get that if they've still got that today then that push up the price a little bit but yeah I would say somewhere in the region of 9 to 10,000 and so it shows if you are looking into the used Market don't immediately discount something that's got quite a lot of miles on it and is a few years older than perhaps you were looking for because it could still be a perfectly serviceable electric car it could although you do need to be obviously a little bit careful when you buy because some EVS out there will have batteries that have degraded much further of course anyway now it's time to find out the winner of the 2024 summer range test right so it does all come down to this it's the final two cars I'm in the Rena Scenic will is in the postar 2 these have the longest ranges of all the cars that we had here on paper and it has come down to these two at the very very end in real world conditions so will how many miles do you have left well Doug it feels like I've done about a th000 miles today it is the middle of the night by the looks of things and I have 16 miles remaining according to trip computer and 4% and I have no warnings so at the moment no problems at all maintaining what is now 70 mph how about you well I know that I've got 3% of my battery remaining but I don't actually know how many miles I've got left okay so when you've got say 250 miles remaining range then it tells you that when you don't really need to know that you've got 250 miles left but when you get down to the final few miles it' be really helpful to know if you had 10 20 30 miles then that disappears is that right that appears to be the case but it could also mean that I've actually got 50 miles left and I'm just not aware of it oh oh no am I dropping a bit now oh no I'm down to 66 I can still see him no how are you disappearing you disappearing I can see you flagging see you flagging everything's fine I'm just having a bit of a rest back here foot is welded to the floor and I can't maintain 70 I'm dropping speed quite quickly I'm down 62 m hour now so I think that's it but I'm still going and Doug I'm not sure is because he disappeared out of sight quite a while ago so unless I die suddenly now and he overtakes me or crws past me then I think this pole star is going to be the champion oh no yes the pole star 2 was the winner of this test the Rena Scenic finished second after covering a massive 322 Mi and it achieved reasonable efficiency of 3. 7 m per Kow there was only 11 miles in it in the end but aerodynamics eventually won out so the sleer postar 2 racked up a total of 333 miles although as you saw some of that was crawling at very low speeds and both of those cars actually showed up some much more expensive machines that we had in this test the poar 2 even proved pretty efficient so it averaged 4. 2 m per Kow and that figure was only bettered by the model 3 and the mini and I think that's Testament to the overhaul that postar gave the two last year because when it was first launched a couple years ago efficiency was actually a weakness of the car so there you have it interesting results all around and an impressive win for the poar 2 thanks very much for watching this video if you want to see another one click up there and subscribe to the channel while you're at it and if you want to find out more about this test and read all of our reviews on every new and used car around click on that link to go to whatcar.