Outstanding energy consumption numbers are one of the key features of electric vehicles. High efficiency is crucial to achieve a desirable driving range while using a limited amount of energy in batteries. Basically, you can make a fast EV or one with great range, but if it's bad at efficiency, you won't see the benefits you want.
In today's post, we'll take a look at a list of EPA energy consumption results—Combined, City and Highway—for U.S.-market battery-electric vehicles. The EPA results are not perfect, but they remain the only common measure for all EVs on the market.
There are more than 300 individual EV configurations on sale, including different battery sizes, ranges, powertrain setups, and wheels—all of which directly affect energy consumption. We collected numbers for about 200 configurations, for which data were available—listed directly by EPA, or by the manufacturers. (There is an asterisk in such cases, just like when we applied numbers from the previous model year of an EV.)
We've included models that are currently available for order or reservation, some upcoming models, and a few that have been discontinued but may still be found on dealer lots as reference points.
The Stats
The EPA provides fuel economy numbers in MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent), assuming that one gallon of gasoline is 33.7 kWh of energy. This unit was created to have a kind of comparison to the MPG rating, used for internal combustion engine cars. It basically measures the equivalent amount of energy consumed when compared to a gasoline vehicle.
However, because EVs are using electricity, it's better to operate using Wh or kWh as a metric. That's simply because the battery stores a certain number of kWh of energy. (The MPGe metric has been criticized for not being easy to understand or very relevant.)
In our charts, we used the EPA Combined energy consumption numbers in miles per kilowatt-hour (mi/kWh), as well as in watt-hours per mile (Wh/mi). Both have white color text. Additionally, we also have Wh/mi numbers for EPA City (green) and EPA Highway (yellow.)
While the mi/kWh metric might be more intuitive for some reasons, the Wh/mi is also handy and allows to quickly calculate the amount of energy, the vehicle will use during a month or a year, when assuming a certain mileage. For example, a vehicle with 300 Wh/mi energy consumption needs 3,000 kWh per 10,000 miles.
A very important thing to note is that all the EPA figures include the charging losses, usually at least several percent of the total amount.
According to the data, the average energy consumption for the 200 EVs listed below is 2.6 mi/kWh (381 Wh/mi). The highway numbers are over 5% worse, while the city numbers are some 4.5% better. About half of all vehicle configurations sits between 2.5-3.3 mi/kWh (300-400 Wh/mi).
Best Energy Consumption EVs
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 (SE trim) with rear-wheel drive, a 77.4-kilowatt-hour battery and 18-inch wheels has the best EPA Combined energy consumption number of 140 MPGe or 4.2 mi/kWh (241 Wh/mi), including charging losses. One of the key elements to achieve such a high result is outstanding aerodynamics and a high-voltage battery system (697 volts nominal).
The second best is the Lucid Air Pure, rear-wheel drive with 19-inch wheels. It has a rating of 137 MPGe or 4.1 mi/kWh (246 Wh/mi). It's worth noting that the Lucid Air is the most efficient car on the market in the EPA Highway category (251 Wh/mi compared to 265 Wh/mi in the case of the Hyundai Ioniq 6). This is also a tremendous achievement considering the size, weight, battery capacity, range and performance of Lucid Air cars.
One of the biggest surprises is that the third model on the list is the new entry-level Lexus RZ 300e. According to the manufacturer, it is good for 125 MPGe or 3.7 mi/kWh (270 Wh/mi).
High in the ranking are also some versions of the BMW i4 (eDrive35), the discontinued Chevrolet Bolt EV/Bolt EUV duo, Toyota bZ4X, Kia EV6, Hyundai Kona Electric, Polestar 2 (Long Range Single Motor), Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia Niro EV, Volkswagen ID.4 and Tesla Model 3 (the latest version is not yet listed by the EPA).
Roughly about 10% of the best EV configurations gets results better than 300 Wh/mi (more than 3.3 mi/kWh).
Worst Energy Consumption EVs
On the other end of the spectrum, we usually can find large and heavy electric vehicles with multi-motor powertrains. They consume up to about three times more energy than the most efficient electric cars, according to EPA.
The worst result belongs to the Lordstown Endurance pickup, which was rated just before the company went bankrupt. With just 48 MPGe or 1.4 mi/kWh (702 Wh/mi), the vehicle sits at the bottom of the list.
The GMC Hummer EV Pickup and GMC Hummer EV SUV (20 battery module version) are also electron guzzlers with 50-53 MPGe, depending on the wheels/tires (Mud-Terrain MT or All-Terrain AT). The results are as low as 1.5 mi/kWh or 674 Wh/mi, and goes up to 749 Wh/mi to an absolute worst result in EPA Highway category. However, considering the size, weight and performance, this EV is still tremendously more efficient than an ICE counterpart.
There are GMC Hummer EV Pickups with 24 battery modules. As we understand, they are too heavy to qualify for EPA energy consumption tests (a heavy-duty pickup category). Their results potentially are even worse than the mentioned 20BM versions.
Among the EVs with the highest energy consumption, we can also see the quad-motor Rivians, some Chevrolet Silverado EV and Ford F-150 Lightning, and the sporty Audi SQ8 e-tron.
EV Energy Consumption Chart
The chart below helps us to better illustrate the difference between the models (according to EPA methodology), and the difference between the city and highway driving for a particular model.
It's just a general comparison and the only consistent one we have for the entire market. In some cases, the results might be different than real-world tests—especially the Audi e-tron GT/Porsche Taycan family, which generally have better real-world results than their EPA tests indicate.
This chart was last updated Feb. 21, 2024. It will be updated as the year goes on.
Click here to see an expanded version of this chart.
*Values according to the manufacturer or estimated (borrowed from the previous model year)
Info and exceptions:
- EV model is usually described as model year, brand, model name, version (battery or drive type) and wheel size in inches.
- Some numbers listed here are estimated or unofficial. Please check the manufacturer's website for confirmation.
- The list includes all EVs available on the U.S. market (for which data were announced), as well as some upcoming models and a few discontinued ones for reference.
