- Consumer Reports tested 30 EVs to see which ones measure up to their stated EPA range estimates.
- Most vehicles that fell short only missed their EPA estimates by a handful of miles. Some were egregious offenders. A few others beat their estimates by 40 miles.
- The publication ran fully charged vehicles at a steady speed of 70 mph until their batteries were depleted.
Even the most ardent electric-vehicle fan will tell you there’s often a big gap between the range that you’re supposed to get and what you actually get. An EV’s actual range can depend on a great many things, like outside temperatures, tires, how smooth the acceleration is and how fast it’s going on the highway.
I’ll say this from experience, too: Nothing is worse than getting far less range than you expected to, especially when you’re crossing long distances in a hurry. But many modern EVs actually exceed the range estimates handed down by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the automakers themselves—even on the highway.
Consumer Reports has been in the habit of buying and range-testing EVs at highway speeds until they die for some time now. It’s an extreme test, and one that ends with a car being flatbed-towed to a charger when its battery is fully depleted. So far, CR is up to 30 different 100% to 0% range tests. (Also speaking from experience: 30 different towing bills can be difficult for some publications to justify to their parent company.)
The publication’s latest test actually shows a good deal of improvement in highway range, and range consistency. “Most vehicles that fell short only missed their EPA estimates by a handful of miles,” CR said. One offender was especially bad: the Ford F-150 Lightning. “Its battery ran out after just 270 miles—a 50-mile difference from the EPA estimate,” CR said.
That doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. The F-150 Lightning is an excellent electric truck, but it’s big, heavy and aerodynamic as a brick. I had a close call in one once, too.
But CR’s latest test has a few surprising winners that exceed—in a few cases, handily—their EPA-stated range. The BMW iX is one of the big winners here, pulling 370 miles of range when it should only do 309 miles. Even better is the Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 sedan. Benz’s controversially styled electric four-door is a range king, managing 380 miles on the highway. While that’s only nine miles more than its EPA rating, it’s the best result among this test group.
Updated BMW i4 eDrive40 (2025)
Photo by: BMW
Overall, BMW in particular had a great showing in CR’s testing. The BMW i4 significantly outperformed its EPA estimate on the highway by 51 miles, and the i5 did nearly as well at 45 miles. Even the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N did 15 miles better than expected, which is a nice outcome for all the performance it offers too. Interestingly, the Lucid Air Touring—among some of the American market’s longest-range and most efficient EVs—was off the mark by a whole 33 miles here.
Want to know which EVs will over-deliver on your next road trip? Head over to Consumer Reports to see these latest results.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
