EV makers widely promote their “range” figures – a number established by the EPA. But these range figures are misleading at best.
When a Tesla Model 3 LR vehicle is rated at 334 miles, that is a number determined by the EPA on a specific test configuration of city and highway driving and assumes that you charge the battery to 100% capacity and drain it to 0%.
The EPA range test is done in moderate California like temperatures, has no testing done in cold weather, nor on extended mountain crossings at highway speeds. The EPA tests are flawed measures.
In the real world, using 100% of the battery capacity is not possible – Tesla itself recommends normally charging to no more than 80% maximum capacity. When you are on the road – in most of the U.S. – you can’t risk drawing down the battery much below the estimated 10-20% remaining – because the real time range estimate varies as you drive (often dropping much from the initial estimate) and charging stations can be 100-200 miles apart. And as we found, may not be working. On our last trip, one Tesla Supercharger could only output a maximum of 33 KW – not the 150 KW it was rated for; this was the case for any of the 8 stalls.
Your useful battery capacity is not 100% – but a subset – may be at best 15% to 85% – or 70% of the EPA useful range.
When derated for temperature, you end up with a maximum of 50-60% of the EPA range estimate – this is the real-world number you need to know, not the bogus EPA number.
We do not all live in California or Arizona. EV batteries perform best at about 50-90 degree air temperatures. Above and below, battery capacity drops.
Below freezing, capacity drops rapidly. At 18-21 degrees, while driving in Idaho, our overall capacity fell by -25% to -40%. This is not just us but is widely documented by others, EV enthusiasts and magazines.
The effect is the 334-mile range figure becomes more like 120-150 miles of useful range. We had to stop roughly every 120 miles (charging infrastructure was scarce) and do a 20-30% back up to 70-80% charge. Every 120 miles.
The EV industry avoids talking about this when selling their vehicles. Instead, they focus on the EPA maximum range. In an ICE vehicle, when you fill the tank, you fill to 100%. Sure, you may refill at 20%, like an EV, and your range is also reduced in cold (but not by -25% to -40%). And you can refill at far more options than you have for EV charging.
The EV industry has been telling lies to the public on this issue.
Separately, Tesla’s door latch design has a problem that has caused fatalities: Report: Tesla Doors That Won’t Open Have Led to 15 Crash-Related Deaths, Teslas require electricity to open the doors; the front doors have an emergency mechanical latch in the 2023 Model 3 and earlier vehicles. No so latch is provided for other doors and that can hinder rear seat passenger egress in the event of a crash – and if the front doors are damaged there may be no other way to exit the vehicle. Beginning with 2024 model cars, all doors now have emergency latch mechanisms. Tesla is not the only brand to have this problem- many vehicles now use electronic door latch mechanisms.
Here is an edited AI summary of the EV industry’s moral failings.
One of the most common—and most frustrating—discoveries people make when they take an EV into true winter conditions is significant range loss.
❄️ 1. The physics: winter range loss is real
Cold weather affects EVs in three unavoidable ways:
A. The battery itself becomes less efficient
Lithium‑ion chemistry slows down in the cold.
This reduces:
- usable capacity
- discharge efficiency
- regenerative braking
B. Cabin heating is energy‑intensive
Unlike gas cars, EVs don’t get “free” heat from waste engine heat.
They must run:
- resistive heaters, or
- heat pumps
Resistive hears can consume 2–7 kW continuously, which is enormous relative to the battery. Heat pumps cut that in half – but on a 200-mile ride, heating can cut range by 10%.
C. Charging windows shrink
- You can’t charge 0–100%
- You realistically use 20–80%
- Cold slows charging even more
The “real” winter battery is often 50–60% of the nominal pack, and that pack is operating at 60–75% of its warm‑weather efficiency.
–40% range loss—is what independent testing shows.
🧪 2. The official EPA range test does not include cold weather
EV range is measured under EPA test cycles, which:
- are done at moderate temperatures
- do not include winter conditions
- do not include highway‑only driving
- do not include heater use
- do not include mountain grades
- do not include 20–80% charging windows
- do not include sustained high speeds
The EPA test is the same for all automakers, and it’s legally required.
When a manufacturer says “330 miles,” they are quoting the EPA number, not their own number.
The EPA test does not reflect real‑world winter driving in the Mountain West.
📣 3. The marketing gap: what EV companies don’t say
EV companies rarely emphasize:
- winter range loss
- heater energy consumption
- reduced usable battery window
- charging infrastructure gaps
- mountain driving penalties
- slow winter fast‑charging
- the need to precondition the battery
- the fact that EPA range is optimistic for cold climates
They know these limitations exist.
They know customers will discover them only after purchase.
They choose not to highlight them.
It’s a material omission that misleads many buyers.
EV marketing is optimized for coastal, temperate‑climate buyers, not for people who live in cold, rural, mountainous regions.
🏔️ 4. Mountain West + cold + sparse chargers
This is one of the hardest environments for EVs:
- long distances between chargers
- cold winters
- elevation changes
- limited charging infrastructure
- no redundancy if a charger is down
- no ability to “top off” quickly like a gas car
In this context, a “330‑mile” EV can easily become a 120–180 mile winter vehicle.
- That’s not user error.
- That’s not unusual.
- That’s simply the physics + the environment.
⭐ 5. It is misleading by omission
- Automakers are required to use EPA range numbers.
- EPA tests do not include winter conditions.
- Automakers are following the rules.
Misleading by omission
- EV companies rarely disclose winter range loss.
- They rarely disclose real‑world highway range.
- They rarely disclose the 20–80% charging window.
- They rarely disclose cold‑weather charging slowdowns.
- They rarely disclose the infrastructure limitations in rural regions.
The real‑world usability of an EV in many regions is dramatically different from the advertised range.
Knowing what we now know about wintertime EV range, we no longer view our EV as a useable solution for long distance travel in the wintertime – where we live.
