Electric vehicles (EVs) fall short of their claimed WLTP range figures by 14.8%, on average, according to independent testing by What Car?.

The magazine put 10 of the latest EVs through a real-world range test to see how close they could get to the official figures.

The best performing model was the Porsche Taycan, which was 3% shy of its official 290-mile figure, achieving 281 miles in the test.

The Porsche beat the Mazda MX-30 into second place, with that falling 7.1% short of its quoted 124-mile range. The Fiat 500e was farthest away from its official range, falling 29.2% shy of its 198-mile WLTP figure.

Ford’s Mach-E fell 20.2% short of its official figure, but the Extended Range RWD achieved the highest outright test mileage, covering 379 miles before its battery ran out.

What Car? tested how close 10 current electric vehicles could get to their quoted WLTP range figures. The test was conducted on a closed vehicle proving ground, on a 15-mile route consisting of 2.6 miles of simulated stop-start urban traffic, four miles of steady 50mph driving and eight miles of driving at a constant speed of 70mph, to simulate motorway journeys. 

Each of the vehicles was fully charged and left outside for 15 hours, before being fully charged again ahead of the test. The cars were then driven until they ran flat, with on-road position and driver changes at the end of each lap.

Steve Huntingford, editor of What Car?, said: “Range is one of the key criteria for new and used electric car buyers. Our real-world driving test shows that some electric vehicles can get incredibly close to their quoted figures in the real world, while others are farther behind, so it’s important buyers do their research and organise test drives when considering a new electric vehicle.”

What Car? EV range test results:

Make / Model	Usable battery size (kWh)	Official (WLTP) range (Miles)	Test range   (Miles)	Shortfall	Miles per kWh*
Porsche Taycan 4S Performance Battery Plus	83.7	290	281	3.0%	3.4
Mazda MX-30 SE-L Lux	30.0	124	115	7.1%	3.8
Kia e-Niro 64kWh 3	64.0	282	257	8.5%	4.0
Renault Zoe R135 GT Line	52.0	238	208	12.4%	4.0
Audi Q4 e-tron 40 S line	77.0	308	266	13.6%	3.5
Volkswagen ID.3 58kWh Pro Performance Life	58.0	264	226	14.2%	3.9
Skoda Enyaq 60	58.0	254	207	18.3%	3.6
Ford Mustang Mach-E Extended Range RWD	88.0	379	302	20.2%	3.4
Tesla Model 3 Long Range	70.0	360	284	21.1%	4.1
Fiat 500 42kWh Icon	37.3	198	140	29.2%	3.8