Anyone who has charged an electric car from empty to fully charged will probably have noticed that it draws more current than the battery should be able to. AutoBest has now mapped out exactly how large this exceedance is for a series of EVs.
When charging electric cars, of course, not every kWh of electricity goes directly to the battery pack without loss in the meantime. There are often other things that require power, such as cooling the battery during charging, but also systems that adjust the recharging via software. Especially at high temperatures or with fast charging, cooling can cost quite a bit of extra power. So you always tap off a bit more kWh than is actually in the battery pack. AutoBest has completely discharged a number of EVs and then fully charged them again to discover exactly how much that is per car.
There appear to be significant differences. In some cases, this concerns more than 20 percent of electricity that did not end up directly in the battery pack. Then it can be quite disappointing if you had assumed a better return. AutoBest believes it is important for consumers to know. “There are technical explanations for this, but we think it’s important to know, because you may pay more than expected.”
AutoBest tested 15 popular relatively affordable ‘mainstream’ electric cars as part of the EcoChallenge and came to the following results. The Volkswagen ID3 uses the power most efficiently during charging, the Honda e the least.
| Car | Just. battery capacity | charging consumption | Difference |
| 1. Volkswagen ID3 | 58 kWh | 61.41 kWh | 5.90% |
| 2. Citroen ë-C4 | 45 kWh | 50.13 kWh | 11.40% |
| 3. Kia e-Niro | 64 kWh | 71.51 kWh | 11.70% |
| 4. Cupra Born | 58 kWh | 64.58 kWh | 11.80% |
| 5. Opel Corsa e | 45 kWh | 50.40 kWh | 12% |
| 6. Peugeot e-2008 | 45 kWh | 50.77 kWh | 12.80% |
| 7. Fiat 500e | 37.3 kWh | 42.24 kWh | 13.20% |
| 8. Peugeot e-208 | 45 kWh | 50.93 kWh | 13.20% |
| 9. Hyundai Kona Electric | 64 kWh | 73.33 kWh | 14.60% |
| 10. Mazda MX-30 | 30 kWh | 35.60 kWh | 18.70% |
| 11. Nissan Leaf | 56 kWh | 66.94 kWh | 19.50% |
| 12. Dacia Spring | 26.8 kWh | 32.41 kWh | 20.90% |
| 13. Renault Zoe | 52 kWh | 63.12 kWh | 21.40% |
| 14. Opel Mokka-e | 45 kWh | 54.66 kWh | 21.50% |
| 15. Honda e | 28.5 kWh | 36.23 kWh | 27.10% |
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl