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The Model S’s range dropped just 16% in cold-weather testing, as compared to the Toyota bZ4X, whose range dropped by 35%
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–> by Sebastien Bell
4 hours ago
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by Sebastien Bell
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Norway is known for its cold weather, which makes it an odd place to be the leader in EV adoption. To ensure that buyers in the chilly Scandinavian country are well-informed about how much their range will be affected by the winter, local experts run EVs through a winter range test and, this year, the Tesla Model S set a new record.
The electric vehicle with the longest estimated range on the WLTP test cycle (634 km/394 miles) that was run in this year’s trial, the Model S standard range, managed to drive a distance of 530 km (329 miles) in a test run by motor.no.
Making it all the more impressive, due to a technical glitch, the team could only charge their Tesla to 98 percent to start the test. Despite that, temperatures of as low as -19 degrees Celsius (-2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) reduced the Model S’s range by just 16 percent, as compared to the WLTP estimate.
Read: Tesla Owners Beware – Battery Heating Message May Leave You Out Cold
Although that was a strong performance for the American sedan, it wasn’t the best-performing vehicle in terms of how closely it kept to its estimated range. That honor went, instead, to the Maxus Euniq 6. Although it managed to travel just 317 km (197 miles) in the test, it was only rated for 354 km (220 miles), which amounted to a drop of just 10 percent.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Toyota bZ4X was the car whose performance dropped the most from its WLTP baseline. Despite having an estimated range of 503 km (312 miles), the EV only went 323 km (201 miles) in motor.no’s testing, a stunning drop of 35 percent.
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That may not come as a surprise to attentive readers, because the bZ4X has made a habit of disappointing in real-world range tests. So worried was Toyota about this, that it wouldn’t provide the outlet with an AWD version of the car, and it had to instead test the two-wheel drive version.
The bZ4X was by no means the only EV whose range suffered in the cold, though. The Škoda Enyaq Coupe RS and the Mercedes EQE 300 both took similar hits to their range during the test, and drops of between 20 and 30 percent were common.
The magazine, though, was most impressed with the Chinese cars in the test, such as the MG4, the BYD Atto, and the JAX e-JS4. The testers were impressed by the wealth of vehicles available, and their low prices, concluding that “many families will do just fine with” the cars.
All vehicles were driven by experienced drivers on a loop that starts in Norway’s capital, Oslo. The drivers were required to adhere to the speed limit, to use regenerative braking intelligently, and drive in eco-mode without using driver aids, such as cruise control.
| Cold Weather Range Test | |||
| Model | WLTP Range | Range Achieved | Deviation |
| Tesla Model S Standard | 634 km | 530 km | -16% |
| Mercedes EQE 300 | 614 km | 409 km | -33% |
| BMW i7 xDrive60 | 595 km | 424 km | -29% |
| NINE ET7 | 580 km | 434 km | -25% |
| BMW i4 eDrive40 | 565 km | 434 km | -23% |
| Tesla Model X Plaid | 543 km | 444 km | -18% |
| Nissan Ariya 2WD | 533 km | 400 km | -25% |
| VW ID.5 Pro | 526 km | 378 km | -28% |
| Hongqi E-HS9 prototype 120 kWt | 515 km | 389 km | -24% |
| Skoda Enyaq Coupe RS | 510 km | 338 km | -34% |
| Toyota bZ4X 2WD | 503 km | 323 km | -36% |
| Voyage Free | 501 km | 391 km | -22% |
| Hongqi E-HS9 | 465 km | 303 km | -35% |
| Kia Niro EV | 460 km | 343 km | -25% |
| Tesla Model Y 2WD | 455 km | 337 km | -26% |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 4WD | 454 km | 345 km | -24% |
| Mercedes EQB 250 | 452 km | 334 km | -26% |
| MG ZS LR | 440 km | 352 km | -20% |
| JAC e-JS4 | 433 km | 323 km | -25% |
| BMW iX1 | 428 km | 337 km | -21% |
| Renault Megane | 428 km | 318 km | -25% |
| MG 4 | 425 km | 338 km | -20% |
| Kia EV6 GT | 424 km | 349 km | -18% |
| BYD Atto 3 | 420 km | 311 km | -26% |
| VW ID. Buzz | 408 km | 310 km | -24% |
| MG 5 | 380 km | 313 km | -18% |
| MG Marvel R | 370 km | 308 km | -17% |
| Maxus Euniq6 | 354 km | 317 km | -10% |
