EPA rates Polestar 2 and Volvo XC40 ranges

The US EPA has published its range ratings for the all-electric models Volvo XC40 Recharge and Polestar 2 with surprisingly low values: 208 miles (335 km) for the Volvo XC40 Recharge and 233 miles (375 km) for the Polestar 2.

Both electric cars come from the same CMA platform developed by Volvo and Geely. The EPA has given the Polestar 2 a range rating far below expectations and significantly below the rating given by the European rating system WLTP. The official EPA range for the 2021 Polestar 2 is given as 233 miles (375 km) whereas the European WLTP rating was 292 miles (470 km). This means the EPA rating is 20% lower than the WLTP.

EPA results are not always what might be expected. Tesla Model 3 LR AWD was rated at 322 miles which is +38% of what was expected, while the EPA judges the Performance version to have a range of 299 miles, which is an increase of +28%.

At the same time, insideevs.com noted that the combined energy efficiency of the Polestar 2 is 92 MPGe – 366 Wh/mi (227 Wh/km), which is 30% more compared to the Model 3 LR AWD (280 Wh/mi) or 23% more than the Model 3 Performance (298 Wh/mi). The online electric vehicle magazine noted in their own tests conducted by Bjorn Nyland, and the Polestar 2 had a range of 435 km (270 miles) at 90 km/h (56 mph) and 305 km (190 miles) at 120 km/h (75 mph).

Given the above information and the shared platform, it is not surprising that Volvo’s SUV built on the same platform, also scored significantly worse results than expected, given that the Volvo XC40 Recharge has an SUV shape. The EPA has given Volvo’s first fully-electric car a range rating of range of 208 miles (335 km).

From the manufacturers, Polestar 2 is given a targeted range of 500km (310 miles), and Volvo Cars give the Volvo XC40 Recharge an expected range of “over 400 kilometres” (249 miles) in WLTP testing.

insideevs.com (Polestar), insideevs.com (Volvo)