What "real-world range" actually means

The range a manufacturer advertises is measured in a lab. Real driving — hills, wind, cold mornings, motorway speeds and a full car — almost always cuts that number down. This calculator lets you turn the advertised figure into something closer to what you would actually see on a New Zealand road.

Three things pull real-world range down the most: speed (motorway driving uses noticeably more energy than stop-start city driving), temperature (cold weather reduces battery efficiency and the cabin heater draws power), and driving style (hard acceleration drains the battery faster than gentle progress). Hills matter too — climbing uses more energy than the flat, though an EV recovers some of it coming back down.

How to think about range when buying

Instead of focusing on the headline figure, work out what your longest regular trip actually is — the school run, the commute, the weekend drive to the bach — and add a buffer of 20 to 30 percent. That is the range you actually need. Anything beyond it is convenience, not necessity.

Charging speed matters more than range for most people. A car that charges quickly can cover long distances with only short stops, while a car with a huge battery but slow charging can leave you waiting longer than you would like on a road trip.

A note on these figures

Every car is different and conditions vary from one drive to the next. Treat the result as a useful estimate rather than an exact promise, and always leave a safety margin when planning a longer trip.