EV winter test: how much range do you really lose?

Every winter the same question comes up: how much range does the cold actually cost you? And every winter two big tests appear to answer it. The results are so far apart that you wonder whether they're even about the same cars.

That's not a mistake. It's the most interesting part of the story, and exactly why we put our own Real Range estimate on every car.

Two tests, two very different worlds

Germany's ADAC simulates a run from Munich to Berlin at a constant 0 °C, at motorway speeds up to 130 km/h, with a cold car and a cold battery. That's the harshest scenario imaginable: high speed eats range, and the car has to be heated at the same time.

Norway's Motor and NAF drive a real loop through Norway, over a mix of urban and country roads, with preheated cars and interiors.

The difference in method explains almost the entire difference in outcome. At the ADAC, cars lose 24 to 59 per cent; at Motor/NAF, 29 to 46 per cent. Look up the same model in both lists and you'll find two very different numbers.

The lesson to draw from that: there is no single "winter loss" percentage. What you lose depends on your speed, on whether you preheat while the car is still on the charging cable, and on how long your trips are. Speed weighs more heavily than temperature.

ADAC results, winter 2026

Simulated motorway run Munich–Berlin, 0 °C, cold start. Fourteen family cars.

Car	WLTP (km)	Measured (km)	Deviation
Audi A6 Avant e-tron performance	623	441	−29,1%
Tesla Model Y Premium AWD	533	406	−23,8%
Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer Pro	615	360	−41,5%
Volvo EX90 Twin Motor AWD	600	360	−40,0%
Smart #5 Premium	440	315	−28,2%
Polestar 4 Long Range Single Motor	540	300	−44,4%
BMW i5 Touring eDrive40	580	290	−50,0%
Hyundai Ioniq 5 84 kWh RWD	614	280	−54,4%
Kia EV6 84 kWh RWD	528	280	−47,1%
Porsche Macan	550	270	−50,9%
Škoda Elroq 85	500	265	−47,0%
Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV 350+	614	250	−59,3%
Opel Grandland Electric 97 kWh	500	245	−51,0%
BYD Sealion 7 Excellence AWD	400	210	−47,5%

Source: ADAC, Stresstest E-Autos im Winter, January 2026.

What stands out: not a single car completed the run without a charging stop. And the ranking doesn't follow the WLTP figures. The Mercedes EQE SUV starts with 614 km on paper and finishes below a Smart #5 that claimed 440. Efficiency at high speed and a well-working heat pump weigh more than a big battery.

Motor and NAF results, winter 2026

Real run through Norway, mixed roads, preheated cars. Twenty-four models.

Car	WLTP (km)	Measured (km)	Deviation
Lucid Air	960	520	−46%
Mercedes-Benz CLA	709	421	−41%
Audi A6	653	402	−38%
BMW iX	641	388	−39%
Tesla Model Y	629	359	−43%
Volvo ES90	624	373	−40%
Volvo EX90	611	339	−45%
Hyundai Ioniq 9	600	370	−38%
Kia EV4	594	390	−34%
Ford Capri	560	339	−39%
Xpeng X9	560	361	−36%
Mazda 6e	552	348	−37%
Zeekr 7X	541	338	−38%
Smart #5	540	342	−37%
Škoda Elroq	524	309	−41%
MG IM6	505	352	−30%
MG6S EV	485	345	−29%
Opel Grandland	484	262	−46%
Volkswagen ID. Buzz	449	277	−38%
Changan Deepal S05	445	293	−34%
Voyah Courage	440	300	−32%
Suzuki eVitara	395	224	−43%
KGM Musso	379	263	−31%
Hyundai Inster	360	256	−29%

Source: Motor.no, Rekkeviddetesten vinteren 2026, 27 January 2026.

Here the spread sits much closer together: roughly a third to almost half. Notably, a cheap Hyundai Inster holds up better in percentage terms than a Volvo EX90. Small, light and slow lose less than big, heavy and fast.

What this means for you in Belgium

Both tests are more extreme than a Belgian winter. We're rarely at −20 °C, and most trips here aren't non-stop 580 km motorway legs.

What you can expect in practice:

Short trips cost the most in percentage terms: you heat a cold car up again before every trip, and over ten kilometres that weighs more than over a hundred.
Speed is the biggest factor, not the thermometer. 120 km/h instead of 100 makes more difference than ten degrees.
Preheating on the cable is free range: you use electricity from the grid instead of from the battery. That difference is what the contrast between the two tests above comes down to.
A heat pump genuinely makes a difference, and not every car has one. On a used EV that's worth checking.

Why we quote Real Range

The WLTP figures aren't lies, they're measured under standardised conditions that have nothing to do with your trips. That's why we also put a CarMatch Real Range on our cars: what you can realistically get out of them, based among other things on tests like these, on the model's efficiency, and on what we measure ourselves.

It's not a promise and not a marketing number. It's an honest estimate, and that is more useful than a figure you'll never reach in any circumstance. You'll find it on the detail page of every electric car in our stock.

Not sure whether a particular model suits your driving profile? Give us a call. That's exactly the conversation we're good at. Sometimes the outcome is that you're better off with a different model.