Edmunds Tested: Electric Car Range and Consumption

Latest Highlights

• The 2027 Tesla Model Y L is the most efficient three-row EV we've ever tested.
• There are 5 EVs in Edmunds' 500-mile-plus club
• There are 8 EVs in Edmunds' 400-mile-plus club
• There are over 50 EVs in Edmunds' 300-mile-plus club

The Chart: Edmunds' EV Testing Data vs. EPA Estimates

This chart shows an electric vehicle's official EPA range and energy consumption compared to the range and consumption results from Edmunds' own testing, which is designed to be a real-world complement to the EPA's laboratory-based process. If you see arrows in a column heading, click it to change the sort order.

How does Edmunds conduct its testing?

Instrumented testing is at the core of every Edmunds rating and review. We drive hundreds of cars each year and take pride in our independent testing, and Edmunds is one of the few publications that still publishes proprietary testing numbers for the vehicles we rate and review. The data you see in Edmunds reviews (and much more data that doesn't make it online) was gathered by our team of experts, allowing us to verify whether claims, such as a 0 to 60 mph time, hold up to what a manufacturer states. We created the Edmunds EV Range Test as a way to compare estimates from the EPA and manufacturers with the results of actual driving in the real world.

The methodology

As with our instrumented track testing, we aim to be as thorough and consistent as possible in conducting the Edmunds EV Range Test. The cars we test are new and have been purchased by Edmunds or supplied by an automaker. The night before a test, each vehicle is charged to 100% and tire pressures are adjusted to the manufacturer's settings. As with gas-powered cars, having your tires at the wrong pressure can affect efficiency.

The EPA's guidelines call for a vehicle to be tested in the default settings at startup. A vehicle may have more efficient drive modes available (such as Eco or Efficiency), and you may be able to adjust the level of regenerative braking, but if the vehicle doesn't default to these settings, they won't be used. We do things slightly differently.

Edmunds' standard practice is to use the most efficient drive mode available as long as it doesn't compromise safety or practical comfort levels, such as fully deactivating the climate control system, significantly reducing power for acceleration, or limiting a vehicle's highway speeds. We're not trying to achieve the best range possible; rather, we're testing how EVs perform in the real world. We test each vehicle with windows up and the climate control set to auto at 72 degrees. If there's a "driver only" setting for the climate control, we'll use that as well. We also set the regenerative braking to its maximum setting.

To measure speed, distances and more, we attach Racelogic VBOX data logging devices to each car. These are the same data loggers that we use for our track testing and our Edmunds U-Drags series. However, we've worked with Racelogic to develop a custom program specifically for the Edmunds EV Range Test, which allows us to better monitor progress in real time.

The VBOX utilizes GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, and Galileo satellite constellations to accurately track real-time speed, overall average speed, distance traveled, and display a readout of the amount of highway driving completed over the course of the test. The key with our custom program is that it allows us to make calculations on the fly regarding distance and speed. This means we can be consistent across all of our testing no matter the road or traffic conditions. If average speeds or highway percentages are off the mark, we can adjust our route to bring things in line.

While we also track distance using a vehicle's trip odometer, the numbers we publish are based on those from the VBOX, as there's often a slight disparity between the two. We also utilize sensors and warning lights within the VBOX to ensure that drivers don't accelerate or brake too aggressively while driving.

Every test starts and ends at the Edmunds office, but the route length is adapted to suit each vehicle while aiming for a mix of 60% city driving and 40% highway. The driving is done all in a single day, and for vehicles with an EPA-estimated range of over 300 miles, we often split the test between two drivers.

Each vehicle is driven until there's 10 miles of indicated range remaining. Those 10 miles are a safety buffer to ensure that drivers can make it back to the office without getting stranded. That remaining range is added to the total distance driven (as indicated by the VBOX) for our final range figure.

In addition to the Edmunds EV Range Test, we submit many of these same vehicles to the Edmunds EV Charging Test. You can learn more about how we test EV fast charging and see a leaderboard of the fastest-charging EVs we've tested right here.

The roads

While we occasionally carry out one-off range tests to see how EVs perform while towing or while driving in cold weather, the results from this leaderboard were all achieved on public roads in Southern California. We aim for a mix of 60% city and 40% highway driving, assuming that most electric vehicle owners will likely spend more time in stop-and-go traffic than they will on the open highway. For our testing, we consider highway driving to be any road with a speed limit of 55 mph or higher. Drivers are instructed to follow the posted speed limits and maintain a speed within 5 mph of them, traffic and conditions permitting.

What is EPA-estimated range?

This is the approximate number of miles that a vehicle can travel in combined city and highway driving (using a mix of 55% highway and 45% city driving) before needing to be recharged, according to the EPA's testing methodology. The EPA's mix is different from the 60% city and 40% highway mix we aim for with the Edmunds EV Range Test, which is part of the reason there's often a disparity between our results and the EPA estimates.

How do automakers certify their vehicles with the EPA? First, the vehicle is fully charged and parked overnight. The following day, the vehicle is driven on a dynamometer — it's like a treadmill for cars — over simulated city and highway routes until the battery is drained. The total distance traveled is then multiplied by a correction factor that the EPA has determined will more accurately reflect what drivers can expect to achieve in the real world. The value of this correction factor, which is always less than 1 but greater than 0, is determined by the number of drive cycles a vehicle is tested on.

While there's significant value in having a standardized test and rating, we've found that laboratory-based results don't always align with what we observe in the real world.

What is Edmunds Tested Range?

This is the result of the Edmunds EV Range Test for each vehicle, as outlined in the methodology above. The final figure is the total distance driven (as measured by the VBOX data logger) plus the remaining range at the end of the test. For driver safety, we don't fully drain an EV's battery on public roads, aiming to complete the test with 10 miles of range remaining.

What is Range % difference EPA vs. Edmunds?

This figure is the difference between the EPA's range estimate and the range tested in Edmunds' real-world testing. A positive percentage (in green) means Edmunds exceeded the range estimated by the EPA, while a negative percentage (in red) means a vehicle fell short of its EPA range estimate during our test. This is the figure we use to break any ties in our range leaderboard. For example, take two EVs that both traveled 300 miles. One exceeded its EPA estimate by 10% but the other did so by 25%. The one that exceeded it by 25% would be listed higher on our leaderboard.

What is EPA-estimated consumption?

Think of consumption like you would miles per gallon (mpg) for fuel-burning vehicles. It's a measure of efficiency, not distance. An electric vehicle's energy consumption is measured in kilowatt-hours per hundred miles (kWh/100 miles). A battery stores energy in kilowatt-hours, much like a gas tank stores fuel in gallons. This value tells you how much energy in kilowatt-hours a vehicle would use to travel 100 miles, just like mpg tells you how far a vehicle can drive on a single gallon of fuel.

Unlike mpg, however, where a larger number is better (for example, a vehicle that gets 30 mpg is better than one that gets 20 mpg), a smaller number is better in kWh/100 miles because you are using less battery energy per mile. So a vehicle that uses 20 kWh/100 miles is more efficient than one that uses 30 kWh/100 miles.

To measure consumption, the EPA starts with a vehicle with a completely drained battery. It's then fully recharged using the manufacturer-supplied charger for that vehicle. Consumption is calculated from the recharging energy, the energy-discharge data from the vehicle, and the distance traveled for each cycle. The recharge energy includes any charging losses due to inefficiencies in the manufacturer's charger.

What is Edmunds Tested Consumption?

After a vehicle completes the Edmunds EV Range Test and the battery is nearly empty, it's charged back to full using a Level 2 charger at the Edmunds office. The kilowatt-hours used from plug-in to a full charge are tracked and then we calculate the consumption based on the miles traveled (this doesn't include any remaining range, just actual miles traveled). This process takes into account charging losses in the Edmunds tested consumption number.

What is Consumption % difference EPA vs. Edmunds?

This figure is the difference between the EPA's energy consumption estimate and the energy consumption Edmunds calculated based on our real-world testing. A positive percentage (in green) means a vehicle used less energy than its EPA estimate and was more efficient in Edmunds' testing. A negative percentage (in red) means a vehicle used more energy than its EPA estimate and was less efficient in Edmunds' testing. Remember, a lower kWh/100 miles number is better if you're talking EVs.

What is ambient temperature and why does it matter?

Ambient temperature — how cold or hot it is outside — matters a whole lot when it comes to electric vehicle range, so we list the daily average temperature on the day of testing. Southern California has one of the more temperate climates in the world, which helps keep our testing conditions relatively consistent throughout the year. But since we can't control the weather, we thought we'd at least report it.

In addition to a VBOX, we attach a small weather sensor to the outside of every vehicle we test, then report the average temperature over the course of the drive. We don't do any weather correction, but it's helpful to know the testing conditions.

Which number is more accurate, EPA or Edmunds?

The short answer is neither. Many factors contribute to the distance an electric vehicle can travel on a single charge — including weather, driving style, the number of passengers, and the amount of cargo — making it impossible to come up with a single figure for every situation. The EPA's testing is highly controlled and standardized, but as we've found in our testing, the real-world correlation can vary dramatically depending on the vehicle.

Edmunds' testing uses a more conservative driving style and puts greater emphasis on city driving over highway driving (compared to the EPA's mix), and our figures often (but not always) exceed EPA estimates. While gas- or diesel-powered vehicles are usually more efficient on the highway, EVs tend to be less efficient as speeds increase. Overall, our figures are intended to provide EV owners and potential owners with an additional data point, enabling drivers to make more informed decisions.