EV range tests by AAA reveal Tesla, Kia, and Mercedes-Benz battery charge falls short

The Australian

a day ago

Electric vehicle brands are falling short of their advertised ranges on a single battery charge, with real world testing of BYD, Tesla, Kia and Smart EV models revealing the performance of a Chinese-manufactured car was 23 per cent below its promoted road distance.
The first independent Australian testing of electric vehicle ranges conducted by the nation's peak motoring body found five popular EV models all fell below their advertised on-road performance.
Commonwealth-funded EV road tests conducted by the Australian Automobile Association showed the Chinese-made 2023 BYD ATTO3 boasted the largest variation, with a range of 369km recorded on a single charge in real driving conditions compared with its promoted 480km calculated in laboratory tests.
Testing data compiled by the AAA, which represents state ­motoring bodies including RACQ, NRMA, RACV and RAC, showed the popular 2024 Tesla Model 3 performed 14 per cent below its advertised driving range, recording a real-world range of 441km on full charge compared with its lab range of 513km.
Two of the country's more popular EVs, the 2024 Tesla Model Y and 2022 Kia EV6, recorded range variations of 8 per cent below their advertised distances on a single battery charge. The Tesla Model Y real-world range was 490km compared with its advertised 533km, while the Kia EV6 travelled 484km compared with its lab range of 528km.
The worst performer was the BYD ATTO3, which fell 23 per cent short in real-world tests, managing to cover only 369km instead of the lab range of 480km.
The best performer was the 2024 Smart #3 model, which came in at 5 per cent, or 23km, less than its lab tested range of 455km.
New AAA polling conducted in late July has also revealed that 60 per cent of Australians say EV range and recharging are their main concerns or hesitations preventing them from choosing an electric vehicle as their next car purchase. Range is often cited as one of the biggest barriers for EV take-up in regional communities where motorists travel greater distances.
The lab tests indicated that a BYD ATTO3 being driven from Melbourne to Adelaide would cross the South Australian border, just reaching Wirrega, on a full charge. But the real-world tests found the ATTO3 would run out of charge before getting to the ­Victorian town of Nhill.
Similarly, the Tesla 3 on a trip from Sydney to Melbourne would get to Holbrook and almost Mullengandra on a full charge under the lab tests, but the real-world tests indicated the car would make it to Tarcutta but run out of charge before the Kyeamba turn-off.
AAA managing director Michael Bradley said the real-world testing program would help to ­alleviate range anxiety among ­potential EV buyers.
He said the results gave prospective EV buyers an independent indication of real-world battery range to 'help them understand which cars perform as advertised and which fall short'.
'As more EVs enter our market, our testing will help consumers understand which new market entrants measure up on battery range. Our program will bring confidence to Australian fleets and families looking to buy an EV,' Mr Bradley said.
He said the testing program, which began in 2023 and is backed by $14m in federal funding, had shown consumers 'cannot always rely on a carmaker's laboratory tests as an indicator of real-world performance'.
Since its inception, the program has released results for 114 internal combustion engine and hybrid vehicles, which showed 77 per cent had exceeded 'the fuel consumption recorded in lab tests, with one in five also exceeding noxious emissions limits applicable to lab tests'.
The AAA real-world testing program was launched following the Volkswagen scandal in 2015, which 'demonstrated that regulation of vehicle emissions incentivises carmakers to optimise their vehicles for performance in the laboratory, rather than in the real world'.
Cars are tested on a 93km circuit in and around the Victorian city of Geelong and are subjected to 'strict testing protocols based on European regulations to ensure results are repeatable and to minimise the influence of human factors such as driving style and changing traffic flows'.
The program measures EV range by 'quantifying both the energy needed to drive a vehicle around the test route and the energy needed to recharge each vehicle's fully depleted battery'.
It also 'measures each vehicle's energy consumption, which determines the cost of operating the vehicle, and which carmakers are legally obliged to report at point of sale'.
With the transport sector the third-largest source of domestic greenhouse gas emissions, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Transport Minister Catherine King last year unveiled the government's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard to help Labor's pursuit of net-zero emissions by 2050.
The NVES incentivises car companies to supply new cars that use less fuel per kilometre, with manufacturers set an average carbon dioxide emissions target for the vehicles they produce. In its clean energy and net-zero transformation report released on Sunday, the Productivity Commission called for new incentives to be provided for heavy vehicle users to help drive down emissions.
Following the establishment of the NVES, the Productivity Commission also urged federal, state and territory governments to phase out exemptions for EVs from fringe benefits tax and ­vehicle stamp duty, and move away from electric vehicle registration discounts.
In response, the Electric Vehicle Council warned that ending the tax exemptions would 'slam the brakes on passenger EV uptake in Australia'. Politics
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