(Motorsport-Total.com/Motor1) – The range. The joy and sorrow of those who drive or want to drive an electric car. The kilometers that can be covered with a full battery charge are in fact the main argument of both supporters and opponents of locally emission-free cars.

That’s why we decided to present you a comparison between eleven current electric cars, checking how far they can actually drive before they run out of power. The location of the 2024 Supertest is the Grande Raccordo Anulare (GRA) of Rome, officially known as the A90 motorway, where we tested eleven electric cars from different countries.

They are Italian, German, American, Korean, Japanese and Chinese models, all driving simultaneously on the famous ring road around the capital of Italy.

How our test works

The common test site is the GRA, which is 68.2 km long and encloses the city of Rome like a ring. In our test, we drove on the outer lane, the one that runs anti-clockwise. The speed limit on the GRA is 130 km/h, which is reduced to 110 km/h on some sections and in tunnels. But the traffic is always very heavy, so it is rarely possible to follow the road traffic regulations.

The test cars all drove with the air conditioning set to 22 degrees, in AUTO mode, with the windows closed and the “Normal” driving program. In each car there was only the driver, who was connected to our Crew Car Opener via radio.

To reduce the impact of rush hour traffic jams, the test began at 10:30 a.m. The outside temperature varied between 10 and 14 degrees Celsius. All cars drove in a convoy until they had reached a charge level of 5 percent. When they had reached this level, they stopped the test and left the scene to find the nearest charging station and charge.

The test vehicles

The eleven cars selected for the 2024 fuel consumption test have recently been on the market and represent different alternatives on the list of locally emission-free cars. Here they are:

– BMW i5
– BYD Seal
– Fiat 600e
– Hyundai Ioniq6
– Jeep Wrangler
– Hyundai EV9
– Lexus GS
– LucidAir
– Tesla Model 3
– Toyota bZ4X
– VW ID.7

Results by reach

The cars in our test covered between 571 and 243 km. The Lucid Air, the car that traveled the furthest before the battery capacity reached 5%, completed 7.9 laps on the GRA. It relies on a battery with a real capacity of 112 kWh, very favorable aerodynamics and tires specially developed for electric models such as the Pirelli Elect. Behind it are the Tesla Model 3 and the BMW i5 with 498 and 489 km respectively.

As is easy to guess, the larger the battery, the greater the distance travelled, with deviations from the stated range in the WLTP homologation cycle of between 16 and 40 percent.

The best performer was the BMW i5, which, with 81.2 kWh of real capacity, covered 489 km (6.8 laps of the GRA) instead of the 582 km declared. However, on average, the actual range was about 28% less than the declared one, regardless of the model. This is due to the unrealistic characteristics of the homologation cycle: the accelerations are very gentle, the test is carried out on a chassis dynamometer in ideal climatic conditions (fixed temperature of 23°C) and the test duration is only 23 kilometers.

Two other technical aspects: First, all of the vehicles tested are equipped with summer tires – with the exception of the Lucid Air, which is equipped with all-season tires. Second, the Lexus RZ we tested did not yet have the 2024 software update, which, according to the manufacturer, should improve the model’s efficiency.

Range (100-5%)

LucidAir: 571km
Tesla Model 3: 498km
BMW i5: 489km
Hyundai Ioniq6: 476km
BYD Seal: 452km
Hyundai EV9: 448km
VW ID.7: 400km
Fiat 600e: 282km
Jeep Wrangler: 275km
Toyota bZ4X: 249km
Lexus GS: 243km

GRA circuits

LucidAir: 7.9
Tesla Model 3: 6.9
BMW i5: 6.8
Hyundai Ioniq6: 6.6
BYD Seal: 6.3
Hyundai EV9: 6.2
VW ID.7: 5.6
Fiat 600e: 3.9
Jeep Wrangler: 3.8
Toyota bZ4X: 3.5
Lexus RZ: 3.4

WLTP range

LucidAir: 839km
Tesla Model 3: 629km
BMW i5: 582km
Hyundai Ioniq6: 614km
BYD Seal: 570km
Hyundai EV9: 563km
VW ID.7: 621km
Fiat 600e: 409km
Jeep Wrangler: 401km
Toyota bZ4X: 419km
Lexus GS: 406km

Difference % WLTP

LucidAir: -32%
Tesla Model 3: -21%
BMW i5: -16%
Hyundai Ioniq6: -22%
BYD Seal: -21%
Hyundai EV9: -20%
VW ID.7: -36%
Fiat 600e: -31%
Jeep Wrangler: -31%
Toyota bZ4X: -40%
Lexus GS: -40%

Usable battery capacity

LucidAir: 112.0 kWh
Tesla Model 3: 75.0 kWh
BMW i5: 82.1 kWh
Hyundai Ioniq6: 74.0 kWh
BYD Seal: 82.5kWh
Hyundai EV9: 96.0 kWh
VW ID.7: 77.0 kWh
Fiat 600e: 51.0 kWh
Jeep Wrangler: 51.0 kWh
Toyota bZ4X: 64.0kWh
Lexus RZ: 64.0kWh

Results according to efficiency

Range was generally in line with battery capacity, but what about overall efficiency? Clearly there are other variables to consider when it comes to this factor.

A car that has more energy available can easily travel a greater distance, but one must also take into account how much it consumes to travel a given distance in order to make a more comprehensive assessment.

In this particular ranking, the Tesla Model 3 was the most efficient vehicle: 15.1 kWh/100km, which confirms the efficiency of the American brand’s vehicles. The other places are followed by the Hyundai Ioniq 6 with 15.5 kWh/100km and the BMW i5 with 16.6 kWh/100km.

A little further down the list are the brand new Fiat 600e with 18.1 kWh/100km, the Chinese BYD Seal (18.3 kWh/100km), the Jeep Avenger (18.5 kWh/100km), the VW ID.7 (19.3 kWh/100km) and the American super sedan Lucid Air at 19.3 kWh/100km.

The list is closed by the giant Kia EV9 (21.4 kWh/100km), the Toyota bZ4X (25.7 kWh/100km) and Lexus RZ (26.3 kWh/100km).

GRA measured consumption

Tesla Model 3: 15.1 kWh/100 km
Hyundai Ioniq6: 15.5 kWh/100 km
BMW i5: 16.6 kWh/100 km
Fiat 600e: 18.1 kWh/100 km
BYD Seal: 18.3 kWh/100 km
Jeep Wrangler: 18.5 kWh/100 km
VW ID.7: 19.3 kWh/100 km
LucidAir: 19.6 kWh/100 km
Hyundai EV9: 21.4 kWh/100 km
Toyota bZ4X: 25.7 kWh/100 km
Lexus GS: 26.3 kWh/100 km

Performance

Tesla Model 3: 498 hp
Hyundai Ioniq6: 228 hp
BMW i5: 340 hp
Fiat 600e: 156 hp
BYD Seal: 313 hp
Jeep Wrangler: 156 hp
VW ID.7: 286 hp
LucidAir: 831 hp
Hyundai EV9: 204 hp
Toyota bZ4X: 218 hp
Lexus GS: 313 hp

Weight

Tesla Model 3: 1,828kg
Hyundai Ioniq6: 1,910kg
BMW i5: 2,130kg
Fiat 600e: 1,520kg
BYD Seal: 2,080kg
Jeep Wrangler: 1,520kg
VW ID.7: 2,097kg
LucidAir: 2,360kg
Hyundai EV9: 2,426kg
Toyota bZ4X: 2,000kg
Lexus GS: 2,055kg

The costs

Greater efficiency means less cost for the same distance travelled. And so the Tesla Model 3 establishes itself as the most economical car to drive. A journey of 100 km costs 10.00 euros if you use a guide price at the subscription-based charging station of 0.66 euros/kWh, as proposed by our technical partner Plenitude + Be Charge. When charging at home at an average price of 0.27 euros/kWh, the price drops to 4.10 euros.

If, on the other hand, you choose a car with higher consumption, the costs for the same 100 kilometers increase: 14.20 or 5.80 euros for the Kia EV9; 17.10 or 6.90 euros for the Toyota bZ4X and 17.50 or 7.10 euros for the Lexus RZ.

Energy costs 100 km (fast charger*)

Tesla Model 3: 10.00 euros
Hyundai Ioniq6: 10.30 euros
BMW i5: 11.00 euros
Fiat 600e: 12.00 euros
BYD Seal: 12.10 euros
Jeep Wrangler: 12.30 euros
VW ID.7: 12.80 euros
LucidAir: 13.00 euros
Hyundai EV9: 14.20 euros
Toyota bZ4X: 17.10 euros
Lexus GS: 17.50 euros

Energy costs 1 lap of the GRA (fast charger*)

Tesla Model 3: 6.80 euros
Hyundai Ioniq6: 7.10 euros
BMW i5: 7.50 euros
Fiat 600e: 8.20 euros
BYD Seal: 8.30 euros
Jeep Wrangler: 8.40 euros
VW ID.7: 8.70 euros
LucidAir: 8.90 euros
Hyundai EV9: 9.70 euros
Toyota bZ4X: 11.70 euros
Lexus GS: 12.00 euros

Energy costs 100 km (at home)

Tesla Model 3: 4.10 euros
Hyundai Ioniq6: 4.20 euros
BMW i5: 4.50 euros
Fiat 600e: 4.90 euros
BYD Seal: 4.90 euros
Jeep Wrangler: 5.00 euros
VW ID.7: 5.20 euros
LucidAir: 5.30 euros
Hyundai EV9: 5.80 euros
Toyota bZ4X: 6.90 euros
Lexus RZ: 7.10 euros

Energy costs 1 lap of the GRA (at home)

Tesla Model 3: 2.80 euros
Hyundai Ioniq6: 2.90 euros
BMW i5: 3.10 euros
Fiat 600e: 3.30 euros
BYD Seal: 3.40 euros
Jeep Wrangler: 3.40 euros
VW ID.7: 3.50 euros
LucidAir: 3.60 euros
Hyundai EV9: 3.90 euros
Toyota bZ4X: 4.70 euros
Lexus RZ: 4.90 euros

List price of the vehicle

Tesla Model 3: 49,990 euros
Hyundai Ioniq6: 55,700 euros
BMW i5: 74,400 euros
Fiat 600e: 35,950 euros
BYD Seal: 46,890 euros
Jeep Wrangler: 39,400 euros
VW ID.7: 64,850 euros
LucidAir: 159,000 euros
Hyundai EV9: 76,450 euros
Toyota bZ4X: 50,900 euros
Lexus GS: 78,000 euros

* Tariff 0.66 euros/kWh with Plenitude subscription + Be Charge Be Medium

Conclusion

The most interesting data from the 2024 test is perhaps that of the vehicle that travels the furthest on a full battery charge. The Lucid Air, which travels almost 600 km. An important result, although far from the average customer. Over 800 hp, weighing about 2.4 tons and costing over 150,000 euros.

In terms of efficiency, however, the performance of the Tesla Model 3 and the Hyundai Ioniq 6 stand out. Cars that are very similar in terms of shape, drive and technology.

Other electric vehicles in the test:

Citroën e-C4 X (2023) in the test: Electric crossover with notchback
Volvo XC40 Recharge (2023) with rear engine and large battery in the test