Range is the number everybody understands. Unfortunately, it may also be the number everybody misunderstands.
We rank the battery-electric cars at the pointy end of the Australian range race using comparable WLTP claims. Then, as we get the keys, we find out what they actually do.
Big range. Great.
Now show us the motorway number.
WattRange starts with the claim. As we get the keys, we will add what happened in our own testing. Claimed range. WattCar tested range. Highway range. Efficiency. Same car, much more useful answer.
Why WLTP?
WLTP is a laboratory test, not an Australian road trip. Weather, speed, tyres, load, elevation and climate control all change what an EV will actually deliver. But because manufacturers publish WLTP figures under a common test procedure, it remains useful for comparing one car with another.
That is why WattRange will always distinguish between claimed and tested. The first number gets a car onto this list. The second is the one we are really interested in.
Why no plug-in hybrids?
Because they answer a different question. A BEV range figure tells you how far the car can travel before it needs more energy. A plug-in hybrid can simply keep going on petrol, so putting its combined range beside a BEV would create a big number without a particularly useful comparison. WattRange ranks battery-electric cars only.
Plug-in hybrids still matter to WattCar. Their more interesting number is how far they can genuinely travel without using petrol. We will deal with that separately.