The latest 2025 electric vehicle winter driving test results are out, and there are quite a few EV models that are surprising with their performance.
Any vehicle, electric or not, loses range in colder weather, whether through engine performance and/or climate control.
However, it is recognized as a bigger problem with electric vehicles since they generally have a shorter range to start with.
Scandinavian countries are particularly concerned about that and they run some of the most comprehensive EV winter driving tests.
The latest 2025 winter driving test from Motor and NAF came out this week with some really interesting results.
| Car Model | WLTP (Declared) | Achieved Distance | Percentage Deviation |
| Peugeot E-3008 | 510 | 347 | -31.96% |
| Voyah Dream | 482 | 343,8 | -28.67% |
| Peugeot E-5008 | 488 | 361 | -26.02% |
| Tesla Model 3 | 702 | 530,8 | -24.39% |
| VW ID.7 GTX Tourer | 571 | 440,2 | -22.91% |
| Porsche Macan | 552 | 428,6 | -22.36% |
| Audi Q6 e-tron | 616 | 480,8 | -21.95% |
| Xpeng G6 | 550 | 429,3 | -21.95% |
| Volvo EX30 | 472 | 370,9 | -21.42% |
| BMW i5 Touring | 497 | 392,4 | -21.05% |
| Ioniq 5 | 546 | 436,3 | -20.09% |
| NIO EL8 | 503 | 411,9 | -18.11% |
| Ford Explorer | 525 | 437 | -16.76% |
| Smart #3 | 415 | 346,1 | -16.6% |
| Hongqi EHS7 | 540 | 452,3 | -16.24% |
| BYD Seal U | 500 | 421 | -15.8% |
| Porsche Taycan | 592 | 499,1 | -15.69% |
| Kia EV3 | 590 | 499,1 | -15.41% |
| Mercedes-Benz G-klasse | 443 | 380,8 | -14.04% |
| BYD Sealion 7 | 502 | 436,4 | -13.07% |
| Lotus Emeya | 500 | 436,3 | -12.74% |
| Mini Countryman | 399 | 355 | -11.03% |
| BYD Tang | 530 | 481,6 | -9.13% |
| Polestar 3 | 560 | 531 | -5.18% |
The Polestar 3 performed the best and by a significant margin losing only 5% of its range. It also went the longest distance despite having only the 6th longest WLTP-rated range.
This year, they used a new Model 3 Long Range RWD, which has the highest rated range at 702 km (436 miles), and yet, it went just short of the Polestar 3 and lost 24% of its range.
Motor noted:
Tesla has been at the top of our list in previous range tests. With a WLTP range of 702 km, the Model 3 Rear-wheel drive was expected to go significantly further than its competitors this time. But it was a huge disappointment, even though it went almost as far as the Polestar 3.
Many EVs performed well with a 10 to 20% range loss, but the top 5 is particularly interesting.
Top comment by Volvo Guy
Interesting to see the huge difference between the Polestar 3 at 5% and the Volvo EX30 at 21%. While both are made in China and owned by Geely, the Polestar 3 is a SPA2 platform car (designed by Volvo in Sweden) while the EX30 is a SEA platform car (designed by Geely in China). Manufacturing is less important than engineering.
There are 2 BYD vehicles in the top 5, but 4 out of the top 5 EVs are China-made electric vehicles as both the Polestar 3 (for Europe, it is also made in the US for the North American market) and the Lotus Emeya are made in China.
Electrek’s Take
Chinese EVs are no joke. No wonder why the industry is so scared of them. Tesla’s performance is also disappointing with this new version of the Model 3 because it used to do better in those tests.
Tesla also has more experience making long-range EVs than all its competitors.
At least, it didn’t do as bad as the Peugeot. losing 31% is madness unless you are looking at -30C temperatures, which wasn’t the case for this test. It was actually performed in mild temperatures for a winter in Norway: around 5C (37F).
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