Car brands don't lie, but the OCU (Spanish Consumer Organization) reports that the real range of electric vehicles is up to 27% lower than the approved range.

Not one is spared. After calculating the range of 31 electric cars, the Consumers and Users Organization (OCU) has concluded that car manufacturers declare the average range of their electric models to be between 9% and 22% higher than the actual range. Although this is not fraud or deception, as brands always advertise the range under the most favorable conditions, the consumer organization criticizes this strategy because, in practice, it does not correspond to reality.

To advertise the most favorable data, manufacturers always choose the maximum figure obtained in homologation tests, rather than the minimum or the actual average that a user could expect under everyday conditions. This difference is no coincidence. The international protocol in force in the European Union since 2018 allows measurements to be carried out under ideal conditions, at 23 degrees, without heating or air conditioning , and without taking into account losses during the charging process. All these factors distort the range that the driver will experience on a daily basis.

To verify the discrepancy between advertised and actual fuel consumption, the OCU (National Car Association) selected a representative car from each manufacturer. The results are striking, as according to the organization, the figures range from 9% to 22%. All companies "sweep for themselves," the OCU states in its study.

The most paradigmatic case of all is the Citroën C3 , with an advertised range of 314 km and an official fuel consumption of 247 km, a 27% decrease. The Peugeot 2008 is another model analyzed by the OCU with a fuel consumption deviation of over 20% between the manufacturer's stated fuel consumption figure (406 km) and the actual fuel consumption figure (332 km). The total is 22%.

At the other end of the spectrum, the most user-friendly, is the BYD Atto 3. The Chinese brand's compact SUV boasts a certified range of 420 km, but in reality—according to OCU measurements—it's 387 km, 8% less.

The report's authors insist that, although this practice is legal and common among all brands, "it constitutes deception" that could harm electric car sales due to the mistrust generated by the use of "exaggerated and unreliable" data. According to the OCU (Spanish Consumer Organization), it should be mandatory to publish complete vehicle consumption data according to the WLTP protocol, without any improvements.

He suggests that manufacturers report their vehicles' ranges by providing a fuel consumption estimate, taking into account that on the highway (at higher speeds), the battery drains more quickly. However, he emphasizes that city driving range is not relevant, since at low speeds, power consumption is lower, and it would be very rare for the battery to run out in a single day if the user takes the precaution of charging it at home every night .