In January 2026, ÖAMTC once again took part in "El Prix," the world's largest range test for electric vehicles under exceptionally harsh winter conditions. This practical test is conducted twice a year by the Norwegian Automobile Club (NAF). In temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius, on snow-covered roads and in icy winds, 24 electric cars were pushed to their limits this January. The effects on the range of electric cars were tested.

 

El Prix is the world's largest practical test for the range and charging of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The Norwegian Automobile Federation (NAF) has been conducting El Prix twice a year since 2020, once in the summer and once in the winter. The actual range of the vehicles is determined and compared with the official WLTP ranges.

A 450-kilometer route was chosen for the current test, which included a mix of city, country roads, and highways, as well as inclines. The test started in Oslo at minus 8 degrees Celsius, passed through Lilleholm, and continued north through several rural areas in a wide arc around Rondane National Park, where the temperature was minus 31 degrees Celsius. The vehicles were driven until all of them experienced a loss of power and could no longer maintain the required speed.

 

 

Effects of cold weather on range and charging capacity

With record temperatures of up to minus 31 degrees Celsius, the significant impact of low temperatures on the range of electric cars became apparent: no vehicle came close to the specified WLTP values. The highest deviations from the specified range were almost 46 percent, for example in the Opel Grandland and Lucid Air Grand Touring, and the lowest were just under 30 percent – in the MG S6 and Hyundai Inster. On average, the deviation was just under 38 percent below the WLTP range," summarizes ÖAMTC technician Florian Merker.

 

The models with the greatest deviations were usually also the models with the highest range specifications (WLTP).

The American Lucid Air Grand Touring achieved 520 kilometers in real-world testing out of a range of 960 kilometers.
The Mercedes CLA 350 4Matic AWD achieved the second-longest range. The 85-kWh electric vehicle achieved 421 kilometers instead of the 709 kilometers specified by WLTP, which corresponds to a reduction of 41 percent.
In third place was the Audi A6 Sportback E-Tron Quattro with a 95 kWh battery, which achieved 402 kilometers compared to 653 WLTP kilometers, a reduction of 38 percent.
In fourth place was the BMW iX with 388 kilometers driven and a decrease of 39.5% compared to the WLTP range.
The Opel Grandland achieved 262 kilometers driven in the real-world test compared to 484 WLTP kilometers, representing the largest loss of range.

Graphic ©️ÖAMTC

However, fears of insufficient range are unfounded.

The actual mileage ranged from 224 kilometers (Suzuki eVitara) to 520 kilometers (Lucid Air Grand Touring). "The data shows how important good route planning and the availability of charging stations are for electric car drivers in winter—especially at very low temperatures," emphasizes the ÖAMTC technician. This is also confirmed by the charging test carried out in parallel.

Conclusion: The availability of charging stations, charging speed, and consumption efficiency are more important than range.

When charging, 13 of the 24 vehicles tested reached the desired charge level of 80 percent in less than 30 minutes. Six vehicles even reached 80 percent faster than specified by the manufacturer.

"This charging test showed how important a well-tempered battery is for charging an electric vehicle. Despite temperatures of minus ten degrees Celsius at the charging stations, the vehicles tested performed well," explains Merker.

According to the experience of the ÖAMTC, charging speed, consumption efficiency, and availability of charging stations will be more important in the future than the maximum range of an electric vehicle.

 

Test as a preview for possible new models in Europe

Another interesting aspect of "El Prix" is that Norway has many vehicle models that have not yet made it onto the Austrian market but were included in the test, such as the Chinese models Changan Deepal S05, KGM Musso, Xpeng X9, and Zeekr 7X. "For ÖAMTC, this provides a good preview of which manufacturers are planning to enter the European market in the near future," says Merker.