The Great EV range lie: Why Real World Range Doesn't Match Advertised
- Tim Bond
- Nov 14
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 27
In Brief: Key Takeaways
The official, advertised EV range figures in Australia are, to be blunt, a fantasy. They are not achievable in real-world driving.
This is not the fault of the car, but of the outdated, laboratory-based testing standard (ADR 81/02) that Australia still uses.
Recent, real-world testing by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has proven that many popular EVs fall short of their advertised range by as much as 23%.
The Verdict: Manufacturers are knowingly marketing these misleading figures. As a buyer, your best defence is to immediately discount any advertised range by 20% to get a realistic estimate.
It is the most prominent number in any electric car advertisement, the headline figure on every brochure, and the first question from every prospective buyer: "What's the range?" And for years, the answer provided by the automotive industry in Australia has been, at best, a convenient fiction, and at worst, a deliberate deception.
Consumers are catching on, flooding Google with the rightfully skeptical query: "Is the advertised range a lie?" The answer, backed by hard, independent data, is an unequivocal yes. This is not a story about faulty cars; it is a story about a flawed and misleading system that is failing Australian consumers.
The Facts: A System Designed to Mislead
The official range figures you see on an EV's windscreen sticker are derived from a testing procedure known as ADR 81/02, which is based on the ancient NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) standard.
To call this test "unrealistic" would be a gross understatement. It is a gentle, low-speed, 20-minute laboratory cycle conducted in perfect temperatures with no accessories running. It is the automotive equivalent of a marathon runner claiming their personal best time was achieved on a moving walkway.
The rest of the world has largely moved on to the more rigorous and realistic WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure). Australia has not. As a result, the figures we are legally presented with are pure fantasy.
The proof is in the data. A widely publicised, real-world testing program conducted by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) under their "EV Real-World Driving Program" put these claims to the test. Their findings were damning.
One of Australia's most popular EVs, with an advertised range of 510km, delivered only 395km in real-world conditions—a shortfall of 23%.
Not a single vehicle they tested met its advertised range figure.
The Verdict on the Industry: Complicit Silence about EV range
Car manufacturers are not ignorant of this discrepancy. They are multi-billion dollar engineering firms that know precisely how their vehicles perform. Yet, they continue to market these fantasy numbers as the headline feature, burying the real-world caveats in the fine print.
Why? Because they can. The weak, outdated regulations allow them to. This is a cynical game. Manufacturers know that a bigger number sells more cars. They are knowingly and willingly participating in a system that misleads their customers. While they are not technically breaking the law, they are violating a fundamental bond of trust.
It is a short-sighted strategy that breeds skepticism and gives ammunition to the most ardent EV critics. It is, frankly, an own goal of epic proportions for the entire industry.
The Reality Check: What This Means For You
This isn't just about disappointing a few nerdy early adopters. This has serious, real-world consequences. A family buying an EV for a regular trip between, say, Sydney and Canberra, might make their purchase based on a 450km advertised range, believing they can do the trip easily. In reality, with a true range of 350km, that same trip becomes a stressful exercise in hypermiling and a desperate search for a charger.
The "Great Range Lie" is actively creating the very range anxiety that the industry claims it wants to eliminate. It is setting customers up for failure and disappointment.
The Bottom Line: The official EV range figures sold to Australians are a fiction. The testing regime is not fit for purpose, and manufacturers are complicit in using these misleading numbers for marketing advantage. The solution is simple: Australia must immediately abandon the farcical NEDC-based standard and mandate the publication of the far more realistic WLTP figures.
Until then, the most important tool for any EV buyer is a healthy dose of skepticism and a calculator to knock at least 20% off whatever the brochure claims.
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