Next year I’ll be funding my own car(Currently in a company vehicle) and as there’s no football to watch, I’ve been wasting time looking at cars, lease, pcp and buying
One that seems cheap to lease is the electric Hyundai Ionic 6, but I’m confused over the battery range
Manufacturer claim is 323 and then supposed real world is 250/270. a video review says once you turn in the air con, heated seats etc, this drops to 200 and I get that. But I’ve also read that motorway driving reduces the range to less than 200 miles
Is that right and does it apply to all electric vehicles?
The 'manufacturer claim' is based on standard testing. Most you see will be the European WLTP version, but there's also a Chinese method that gives much higher figures and an American one which gives much lower.
They're all the same as the advertised mog figures - it's just a standardised way of doing it so you can compare vehicles, but your actual mpg is likely to be very different, but no one bothers because it's been easy to fill up with petrol or diesel
Whatever type of car, it'll be more efficient at a steady 40 than at 70. Similarly, stick the air con on in any car and it impacts efficiency as you're running a pump. The area where ICE cars have the advantage is in the cold, as you get the heat for 'free' because they're always creating it (even when you don't need it).
We've had our 2020 Kona for over 2 years and have averaged 4.2miles/kWh in that time, which means an average theoretical range of 270 miles from full to.empty. On a long return motorway journey in snow and heavy rain/standing water with heater on, the lowest I've seen is about 180 miles. In general usage, we'll see over 300 miles, but on individual journeys in the dry in reasonable conditions, say 15 degrees so no heater or Aircon, I've had over 5.5miles/kWh, which would mean about 350 miles.
As mentioned above, EV Database is a great resource for providing likely range in different scenarios. Because I knew we'd have a few long trips, I was interested in the highway cold range to make sure I could do reasonable distances without needing to charge and that put me off a lot of options.
In reality, it comes down to your expected usage and how and where you can charge. The vast majority of our charging is done at home, overnight. It therefore saves me a trip to a petrol station and, with current electric Vs local petrol prices, equates to around 800mog, which is ridiculous. We regularly do Manchester to Newcastle and back in a day (lad is at uni) and that requires some public charging, but the cost of those trips is no worse than it would be in a petrol or diesel and usually still less. If we do a few days away with longer driving, we'll have to fill up on the public network more and that will make those journeys more expensive than in an ICE car, but they happen a few times a year, so the extra £10 or £20 it might be overall doesn't bother me.
What I would say from your post, is if the real world range is 250, it wouldn't drop to 200 just from the heater or Aircon.
