Do real electric vehicles emit far more than their official ratings claim?

Researchers tracked 2.5 years of real-world driving data from all EV models in Shanghai to measure actual energy use and emissions. Test-cycle ratings systematically underestimate consumption by 20–55% for battery and plug-in hybrids, and up to 3.75× for extended-range models. Most operational emissions come from the electricity grid, not the vehicles themselves—meaning EV climate benefits depend critically on how fast cities decarbonize their power supplies.