- The Audi Q6 E-Tron, Porsche Macan EV and Polestar 3 were put through a highway range test in chilly Norway.
- They were driven at 75 mph on a 120-mile route with their efficiency monitored along the way.
- The Polestar 3's bigger battery made it the winner, even though it was the least efficient.
Cold temperatures make EVs use more electricity, which can reduce their range by as much as 50% in some cases. Even the newest models, like the Audi Q6 E-Tron, Porsche Macan EV and Polestar 3, which feature the latest advancements in battery chemistry and thermal management, are at their least efficient in winter. If you also drive them at highway speeds, the range takes an even bigger hit.
Kris Rifa from Norway brought these three posh new electric crossovers together for a group highway winter range test. All three vehicles were driven at a constant 75 mph (120 km/h) on a 120-mile (194 km) route, and their average efficiency was monitored throughout the trip.
The test was done in Norway with temperatures as low as 23°F (-5°C), which made all three EVs a lot less efficient than advertised. The temperature inside the vehicles was set to 70°F (21°C), and they were exclusively driven in their most efficient mode. The Macan EV didn’t have a range-boosting mode so it was driven in normal.
Of the trio, the Polestar 3 (which was the largest of the trio with the longest wheelbase) was rated as being the most luxurious, quiet and comfortable for highway driving, while the Audi was considerably noisier than the other two EVs. The Polestar also had the largest battery pack of the test (107 kilowatt-hours usable versus 94.9 kWh in the mechanically related Porsche and Audi).
At the end of the test, which involved going up and down the same piece of highway, the Polestar looked like it was capable of delivering the longest range. They didn’t drain the three vehicles’ batteries all the way down and instead calculated the theoretical maximum range by looking at the usable battery pack and efficiency numbers.
The Polestar 3 long-range dual-motor used in the test had an average electricity consumption of 2.15 miles/kWh (28.8 kWh/100 km), which gave it a theoretical range of 225 miles (360 km) or around 57% of its claimed WLTP range of 394 miles (634 km). This variant has a more conservative EPA range of 315 miles (507 km).
Next came the Audi Q6 E-Tron Quattro, which was the most efficient of the three cars tested, averaging 2.42 miles/kWh (25.7 kWh/100 km), and it almost matched the Polestar for theoretical range with 223.9 miles (358 km). That’s 64% of its WLTP range of 344 miles (554 km) and even closer to its 307 miles (494 km) EPA rating.
Even though the Porsche Macan is built on the same PPA platform as the Q6 E-Tron, the Macan 4 used in this test was less efficient than the Audi (likely because of its larger wheels). It averaged 2.28 miles/kWh (27.2 kWh/100km), which only gave it a theoretical range of 211.5 miles (338 km) or around 63% of its WLTP range. The EPA rates the Macan 4 at 308 miles, one mile more than the Q6 E-Tron with the same configuration.
Kris also released a video showing a more in-depth side-by-side comparison of the three vehicles and he also charges them after the range test without preconditioning their batteries with interesting results. What struck me while watching these two videos was just how different the Audi and the Porsche are even though they are mechanically very similar just how tasteful the Polestar's interior looks.
