Edmunds achieved more than causing big waves in the media when its real-world EV range tests revealed that no Tesla could match its EPA range. She got Tesla to contact her, something that hasn’t happened often since the company closed its PR department. Tesla contested the results, arguing that cars should run until they are no longer able to move. Edmunds accepted the challenge and did further tests on a track. Tesla will hate the results.
The automaker’s main argument was that there is a battery buffer that should be considered to achieve the EPA range. Since this buffer is also present in other vehicles, Edmunds also took them to the test track in the Mohave desert. All cars were run by all test drivers at the same temperatures.
In addition to a Model Y Performance, a Model 3 Standard Range Plus and a Model 3 Long Range, Edmunds also tested a VW ID.4 First Edition and a Ford Mustang Mach-E AWD Extended Range.
The test consisted of driving all cars at 65 mph (105 km / h) in a 7.5 mile long closed circuit oval. When these cars reached zero load, Edmunds began to count how much more they could perform with the battery buffer at the set speed. When they were no longer able to run at 65 mph, they were driven until they could no longer move.
Tesla vehicles run from 10.3 miles to 22 miles more after reaching zero load on the dashboard below 65 miles. They were the three EVs to have the most reach after that point. When EVs were no longer able to maintain that speed, Model Y Performance lost its place in the ranking for ID.4. While the VW ran 12.9 miles, the Model Y ran 12.6 miles.
While these are interesting numbers, Edmunds had to add them to what the vehicles had reached on the track.
Only one of the Teslas tested in the Mohave desert can reach its EPA intervals. It was the Model 3 Long Range, which reached 343 mi. Its official EPA range is 353 mln, which will certainly sound strange. Technically speaking, it has not reached its official reach. Edmunds he must have considered an acceptable percentage difference to say yes.
The others wouldn’t get there even if Edmunds counted the buffer and was lenient with his numbers. In doing so, the Model Y Performance would reach 263m range against an EPA range of 291m. The Model 3 Standard Range Plus would reach 232m instead of the 250 promises in its EPA range. Although the Performance of Model 3 was not on the test track, it would reach 256 miles, much less compared to its 310-mile EPA number.
To make things even more complicated, Edmunds took the Model Y Performance and Model 3 Long Range to its real-world EV range test loop, and the cars ran even less than on the track after reaching zero load and driving to a stop. It must be the exact opposite.
According to what Tesla engineers said Edmunds, their cars do not have a defined buffer, which is a factor to be considered in this case. We already mentioned that Tesla works with a virtual battery buffer on April 13, 2020. The others would be room temperature, driving style and instantaneous conditions. The only part that makes sense is the variable buffer.
As Alistair Weaver emphasizes in the video, what this shows is that you cannot rely on government figures alone. We went even further than Edmunds‘editor-in-chief when we recommend that EVs have specific test rules that take them into account and are able to determine how energy efficient they really are.