FIA Member Club the Norwegian Automobile Federation (NAF) and Motor magazine have conducted the world’s largest winter electric car test. Taking place on 1-2 February, the test assessed the range and charging speed of electric cars available on the Norwegian market.

NAF and Motor tested 29 electric car models on a route starting from Oslo and going through Lygnasæter, Gjøvik, Ringebu, Dombås, Hjerkinn, Folldal before heading south to Venabygdsfjellet and then to Ringebu again. The cars started with a fully charged battery, without preheating, from Skur 13 in Oslo where the temperature overnight was between 10 and 15°C.
 
The test determined the effective range of electric cars in the winter weather, what happened when the electric cars go into power saving mode, and how quickly the electric cars charged from 10 to 80%.
 
A record was set for how far an electric car drives in winter with the Tesla Model S driving 530 kilometers in cold winter weather before running out of power. Last winter, another Tesla, the Tesla Model 3 LR Dual Motor, drove 521 kilometers. Last year, the temperature was between 0°C and -10°C, while this year it was slightly colder with temperatures between 0°C and -19°C. 
 
“The range is impressive, and the range loss of 16.4% compared to its official range is a pretty good result”, says NAF Senior Communications Advisor Nils Soedal.
 
Although the Tesla S drove the furthest, it was the Maxus Euniq6 that came the closest to its advertised range (WLTP) and therefore won the test. The Maxus Euniq6 finished at 317 kilometers, only 10.45% short of its advertised 354 km range. 
 
“This is the winner this winter. In our test, the best cars are the ones that come closest to their stated range”, says Soedal.
 
This is the fourth winter range test NAF and Motor have conducted. Previous test results showed a deviation from the official range between 4 and 32% and in this year’s test, four cars had a greater deviation between their advertised and actual range.
 
“There is a large variation in the extent of range loss from car model to car model. We had some really cold parts on the test route today, but mostly the cars drove in normal winter temperatures. (…) We want an official test of the range of electric cars in winter. Our hope is that this will be included in an European winter-WLTP”, says Soedal.
 
Click here to discover the full test results.