4 weeks ago
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New Australian testing aims to expose the real-world driving range of electric cars on public roads – not in a lab.
Electric Cars
How far popular electric cars can really travel on a single charge – outside of the laboratory – will be revealed next month in new real-world testing conducted on Australian roads.
Examination of the real-world fuel consumption of petrol and diesel vehicles conducted by the Australian Automobile Association will soon extend to electric vehicles.
Details of which vehicles will be assessed are yet to be confirmed, but the first results are promised sometime next month.
The real-world driving range of electric vehicles has been assessed by customers and media – including Drive – but the AAA will subject each vehicle to a standardised testing process to determine energy use on public roads.
It says it uses "strict test protocols to ensure ... results are repeatable and to minimise the influence of human factors such as driving style and changing traffic flows," and conducts its testing on roads near Geelong, Victoria.
As with the petrol and diesel fuel-consumption testing it has conducted, the AAA 'Real-World Testing Program' is backed by the Federal Government, and supported by both major parties.
It has assessed 114 petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles thus far, out of a total of 200 vehicles the funding will cover.
"Range anxiety continues to be a significant barrier to EV uptake, and we hope these independent results will give Australian car-buyers far greater confidence about the real-world range of new EVs on the market," AAA managing director Michael Bradley said in a media statement.
The AAA Real-World Testing Program is funded by the Commonwealth with bipartisan support and will test up to 200 of Australia’s most popular makes and models.
Electric Cars Guide
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
