The Range Lie: Why Your EV Won’t Go as Far as Promised

Last week, I charged my friend’s Kia EV3 to 85% – the recommended maximum for daily driving. The display proudly showed 268 miles of estimated range. “Great,” I thought, “plenty for my 220-mile round trip to Philadelphia.”

I barely made it back with 4% battery remaining.

That Kia EV3? It promises up to 372 miles of range according to WLTP testing, which should translate to around 300 miles EPA. At 85% charge, I should’ve had about 255 miles of usable range. Instead, I got maybe 210 miles in real-world highway driving. That’s a 17% shortfall from what the car promised me, and I wasn’t even driving aggressively.

This isn’t about one car or one trip. Over the past six months, I’ve had extended access to three different EVs that all promise impressive ranges: the Kia EV3 Long Range, a Tesla Model Y Long Range, and a SsangYong Torres EVX (now branded as KGM Torres). What I discovered is that the range you see advertised is, to put it politely, optimistic fiction.

The Range Numbers Game

Before we dive into what actually happened with these three vehicles, understand that there are different testing standards, and they’re all kind of misleading in their own special ways.

WLTP (Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure) is used in Europe and many other markets. It’s more realistic than the old NEDC standard, but it’s still conducted in a lab under controlled conditions. Think perfect temperature, minimal climate control use, smooth driving.

EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) testing in the United States is supposedly more conservative. The EPA uses a five-cycle test that includes city driving, highway driving, cold weather, hot weather, and AC use. Sounds thorough, right? Except it’s still done in a lab, and the real world has this annoying habit of being messier than laboratory conditions.

And here’s the kicker: manufacturers often use the WLTP number in their marketing because it’s higher. Then Americans see these inflated numbers and wonder why their EV doesn’t live up to the hype.

Test Subject #1: Kia EV3 Long Range

The 2026 Kia EV3 Long Range comes with an 81.4 kWh battery and a single 150 kW (201 hp) motor driving the front wheels. Kia boasts a WLTP range of 372 miles, which industry estimates suggest should translate to around 300-310 miles EPA when it officially arrives in the US market.

I had access to a European-spec EV3 for three weeks in September. Here’s what I found:

City Driving (Under 35 mph average)

This is where the EV3 shines. In pure city driving around Istanbul – lots of stop-and-go traffic, regenerative braking doing its thing – I consistently got 280-290 miles from an 85% charge. That’s actually close to what was promised, and impressive.

The efficiency read around 3.8 miles per kWh, which is solid for a vehicle this size.

Highway Driving (65-75 mph)

This is where things fell apart. On the highway at typical American speeds (I tested on the D-100 highway where speeds are similar to US interstates), range plummeted to 210-230 miles from 85% charge.

That’s a 25-30% drop from the advertised range. Why? At higher speeds, aerodynamic drag increases exponentially. The EV3 isn’t particularly slippery, and pushing it at 70+ mph just eats through the battery.

Climate Control Impact

Running the AC in 85°F heat: Lost about 8-10% additional range.

Running heat in 45°F weather: Lost about 12-15% additional range. (Heat pumps help, but they’re not magic.)

Test Subject #2: Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD

I’ve had more experience with the Tesla Model Y than the other two vehicles, having borrowed one from a colleague for various trips over the past year. The 2024 Model Y Long Range AWD has an EPA rating of 310 miles, which dropped from 330 miles in 2023 due to updated EPA testing procedures.

Here’s the irony: the car itself didn’t change. The EPA just got slightly more realistic about how they calculated range. But even the new 310-mile rating is generous.

The Display Confusion

When you charge a 2024 Model Y Long Range to 100%, it shows 310 miles. Charge to the recommended 85%? It shows approximately 264 miles. But that’s not what you’ll actually get either, because the car’s range prediction is based on your recent driving efficiency.

Drive it hard for a week, and that 85% charge might show 240 miles. Baby it in perfect conditions, and you might see 280 miles. The display is constantly adjusting based on your recent habits, which makes it almost impossible to know your “real” range.

My Real-World Results

Highway test (New Jersey Turnpike, 70-75 mph, 72°F, AC on):
Started with 85% charge showing 265 miles. After 180 miles of driving, arrived with 11% battery. That works out to about 202 miles of actual range from 85% charge, versus the 265 miles promised.

Mixed driving (typical week around Philadelphia suburbs):
Averaged about 3.2 miles per kWh, which translates to roughly 240-245 miles from 85% charge. That’s about 8% less than what the car estimated.

City driving (mostly urban, speeds under 45 mph):
This is where dual-motor AWD hurts efficiency. Got around 3.5 miles per kWh, or about 255-260 miles from 85% charge.

Test Subject #3: SsangYong Torres EVX (KGM Torres)

The Torres EVX is less known in the US market but it’s been available in Korea, Australia, and parts of Europe. It comes with a 73.4 kWh LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery from BYD and a 150 kW (201 hp) front motor.

SsangYong (now KGM) advertises a WLTP range of up to 500 km (311 miles), but Korean government testing brought that down to around 420 km (261 miles). That’s a massive 16% difference right off the bat, and we haven’t even gotten to real-world driving yet.

I had a week with a Torres EVX during a trip to Seoul in October, and the results were… not great.

Highway Reality

Driving the Gyeongbu Expressway (Korea’s main highway) at 100-110 km/h (62-68 mph), I got around 3.0 miles per kWh. With the 73.4 kWh battery at 85% charge (62.4 kWh usable), that worked out to about 187 miles of real range.

That’s 40% less than the advertised 311-mile WLTP figure. Even compared to the Korean government’s more conservative 261-mile rating, I was getting 28% less range.

Why So Bad?

The Torres EVX is heavy (around 4,850 lbs) and not particularly aerodynamic – it’s basically a brick with wheels. The LFP battery, while safer and longer-lasting than NMC batteries, is slightly less energy-dense. And the 400-volt architecture charges slower than competitors using 800-volt systems.

In city driving, it did better – got around 3.4 miles per kWh, which translates to about 212 miles from an 85% charge. Still nowhere near the claimed figures.

The Reality Gap: Side-by-Side Comparison

Why the Gap Exists (And Why It’s Not All Evil)

Look, I’m annoyed by the range inflation, but I also get why it happens. Testing protocols can’t account for every real-world variable:

Temperature

Battery chemistry is temperature-sensitive. In 20°F weather, you might lose 30-40% of your range. In 100°F weather, maybe 10-15% less. Test cycles don’t fully capture extreme temperatures.

Speed

Most range tests include highway driving at 50-60 mph. Americans routinely drive 70-80 mph on highways. At 75 mph, you’re using about 40% more energy than at 55 mph due to aerodynamic drag.

Accessories

Running the AC, heat, seat heaters, stereo, lights – all of this drains the battery. The Tesla’s heated seats alone draw about 50-100 watts each. That doesn’t sound like much, but over a 3-hour drive, it adds up.

Driving Style

Rapid acceleration, frequent braking (yes, even with regen), and aggressive driving can reduce range by 20-30%. The EPA test drives like a grandmother on Sunday – slow acceleration, gentle braking, minimal lane changes.

Terrain

Hills kill range. Driving from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe (uphill) in an EV can cut your range nearly in half. Coming back down (downhill with regen) can actually give you more range than predicted. But most people live in places with some elevation changes.

City vs Highway: Why EVs Are Better in Traffic

Here’s the good news: EVs are actually better in city driving than highway driving, which is the opposite of gas cars.

In a gas car, city driving murders your fuel economy because you’re constantly accelerating and braking, wasting energy as heat. Highway driving is efficient because you’re just cruising at constant speed.

EVs flip this. In the city:

• Regenerative braking recaptures energy when you slow down
• Lower speeds mean way less aerodynamic drag
• Electric motors are most efficient at lower speeds
• No energy wasted idling at stoplights

On the highway, you lose all these advantages. You’re going fast (high drag), not braking much (no regen), and the motor is working harder. Plus, electric motors are less efficient at sustained high power output.

This is why my city range in all three EVs was 20-30% better than highway range, even though gas cars are usually the reverse.

What Should You Actually Believe?

When shopping for an EV, here’s how to translate the marketing BS into reality:

1. Find the EPA rating (for US buyers) – it’s more realistic than WLTP
2. Multiply by 0.70 for worst-case highway range (winter, high speed, climate control)
3. Multiply by 0.85 for realistic mixed driving
4. Multiply by 1.0 for best-case city driving (summer, moderate speeds)

Using the Kia EV3 as an example with an estimated 300 EPA miles:

• Worst case (winter highway): 300 × 0.70 = 210 miles ✓ (matches my testing)
• Realistic mixed: 300 × 0.85 = 255 miles ✓ (matches my experience)
• Best case city: 300 × 1.0 = 300 miles ✓ (I got 280-290, close enough)

The Bottom Line

After testing three EVs with claimed ranges of 300-372 miles, here’s what I learned: if you need 200 miles of real-world highway range, buy an EV with at least 280-300 miles EPA rating. If you need 250 miles, buy something with 350+ EPA miles.

The range gap isn’t fraud exactly, but it’s definitely misleading. Manufacturers know that customers shop based on range numbers, so they optimize for the test instead of real-world driving. It’s like smartphone battery life – yes, technically you might get 10 hours of screen time, but only if you’re reading an e-book at minimum brightness with airplane mode on.

The good news? All three of these EVs are still perfectly usable for their intended purposes:

• Kia EV3: Excellent city car, adequate for occasional highway trips under 200 miles
• Tesla Model Y: Good all-arounder, supercharger network makes range anxiety less critical
• Torres EVX: Best for city driving and shorter trips, less ideal for highway road trips

Just don’t believe the sticker. Believe the math.