Range is the number new EV drivers look at most, and also the one that causes the most uncertainty. Most new EVs have an official range somewhere between 300 and 600 km, but you rarely see that number in practice. Understand why, and you stop trusting the number blindly and start planning around what the car can really do.
The WLTP figure is a lab number
The official range is measured to a standard called WLTP, under mild, controlled conditions. It is fine for comparing cars with each other, but it is measured at moderate speed and temperature, not at 130 km/h into a headwind in winter. Expect your real range to be 10 to 30 percent below the WLTP figure, depending on how and where you drive.
What drains your range
- Speed: air resistance grows sharply with speed, so 130 km/h costs far more than 110
- Cold: a cold battery and cabin heating can cut a quarter or more off range in winter
- Wind and rain: a headwind and a wet road noticeably increase drag
- Load and roof box: a full car or a roof box pulls range down
- Terrain: long climbs use a lot, but you get some of it back on the way down
Why range is not the most important number
On a long trip charging speed often matters more than range alone. A car with slightly shorter range that fast-charges from 10 to 80 percent in 20 minutes arrives sooner than a car with big range that charges slowly. What counts is the total time, not how far you can drive without stopping.
So good trip planning is not about avoiding charging but about charging briefly and in the right place. Add a stop roughly every 200 to 250 km, keep the battery between 10 and 80 percent, and let the trip be a series of short, planned breaks.
Use FindCharger's route planner, which accounts for your car, battery level and the weather, so you get stop suggestions that match your real range and not the lab figure.