QUESTION ANSWER‘When I bought it in August 2020, my electric Hyundai Kona (64 kWh) could drive about 440 kilometers with a full battery’, says reader Henny Vlaswinkel in the weekly question & answer section of our car editors. ‘Now, more than 11,000 kilometers further, the 100 percent charged car only shows 380 kilometers of driving range. After measuring, the garage finds that everything is in order. It would depend on my driving style. I always ride in Eco mode and never press the pedal deeply. Is this normal? Do other electric cars also suffer from this?’
Car editor Niek Schenk replies: ‘I don’t think there is a problem with your car. You are only witnessing the difference in the manufacturer’s specification and the practicality. When you start using a new electric car, the on-board computer shows the mileage specified by the manufacturer for this car. But as soon as you make several trips with it, the same computer will determine that the manufacturer’s specifications are not met in practice. It is a learning system based on average experiences. There is a good chance that the driving range shown on the screen will become smaller and smaller in practice, especially in the winter months when it is a bit colder, or if you drive relatively often on the highway.
I don’t think it’s anything to worry about, although I understand it’s confusing. The so-called WLTP figures that a car manufacturer has to provide are based on a certain test procedure, which often differs from the driving conditions and driving behavior of the driver in practice. As a result, electric cars almost never reach the official driving range. The difference you have observed is considerable, but I often notice such differences in the test cars I have driven.
However, I don’t think this is normal. It would mean a very rapid degradation of the battery pack. It is usual for such a car to have lost 10 percent of its performance after roughly 50,000 kilometers. In the meantime, you can do a lot yourself to prevent this process. For example, a battery that is always fully charged and empty degrades faster than a battery that is always between 30 and 70 percent charged. For the chemistry in such a battery, a charge of as much as possible around 50 percent is ideal to maintain its condition. Furthermore, a battery does not like cold or extreme heat. So it makes a difference if an electric car is always kept indoors, at a moderate temperature.’
Our auto editors answer reader questions every week. Mail your question to Niek Schenk.
More questions and answers can be found in our file.
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