In previous article, I have touched on the definition of WLTP, how it was derived and how it was calculated. And why you shouldn’t believe everything what the car manufacturer told you.
So in this article. I’m going to dissect more into the WLTP range for an EV. I won’t talk about ICE cars (internal combustion engine) for obvious reasons. Here, I’ll try to answer the most asked questions; “What is the range of Hyundai Ioniq 5? (any EV for that matter)”, “Can you trust the WLTP range given by car manufacturer?”. Let’s find out.
Before we begin, let’s look at the factors that would affect the range of an EV. This is an important factor as it’s also part of the derivation of WLTP numbers from the car manufacturer.
Factors that will deteriorate your range, that is under your control :
- speed
- heater usage
- air conditioning usage
- the amount of people in your car
- tyre size
- weight
For an EV, speed is the number 1 killer of range. The higher you go on a sustained high speed, the lower the range in miles(or kilometers) that your new Hyundai Ioniq 5 or Tesla Model 3 could reach. From my experience on the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the ideal speed that isn’t too slow nor too high consumption would be somewhere about 100-115 kmh. You do not want to drive at 90 kmh in the Autobahn I’m sure. Data gathered by EV car reviewers like Bjorn corroborated with my findings as well, see this below.
| Speed | Hyundai Ioniq 5 Real World Range Test |
|---|---|
| 90kmh / 56mph | 461km/286miles |
| 120kmh / 74mph | 289km/180miles |
So, how far can your all new Hyundai Ioniq 5 range goes? The WLTP of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 AWD is rated at 430km by Hyundai. But actual real world test could be as low as 289km!
As for the air conditioning and heater usage, in my opinion, it isn’t too much of a concern. Don’t go extreme like maximum cooling or maximum heater usage, but in moderation. This system doesn’t affect much on the range of an EV, not even half as close as high speed.
For weight, you might think that an extra 400kg could lower the range of an EV by a huge margin, that’s not the case as what demonstrated by Bjorn. Extra weight, in this case as what experimented by Bjorn (please watch his video), weight has almost zero to negligible effect on the EV car range. I still couldn’t think of a scientific explanation for this. Probable explanation would be; weight carries extra momentum, the momentum carries the car over a constant speed without needing any extra juice from the battery to move forward. I reckon if a city drive, where there were traffic jams and traffic lights, an extra 400kg would have an effect on the EV range. Due to the constant need to accelerate to drive speed from a stall would require extra battery power to move.
For Part 3, I’m gonna deep dive into external factors that would affect your EV range.