Photo: Green NCAP
Tesla’s flagship sedan has outscored competitors on an assessment program looking at overall emissions and energy consumption, highlighting that electric vehicles (EVs) are significantly more green than those with internal combustion engines (ICEs).
The Green vehicle assessment program Green NCAP awarded five stars to the Tesla Model 3 with a 9.8 out of 10 in the weighted overall index rating its energy efficiency.
Other top scorers in the report shared on Monday included the NIO ET7 and the Renault Megane E-Tech, each scoring a 9.6 out of 10.
All three of the vehicles were awarded what the index calls five green stars, noting their energy consumption and overall efficiency when in use.
“The Tesla Model 3, with a battery capacity of 60 kWh, single motor, rear wheel drive and a power of 208 kW has a wide and sporty appeal. It is the smallest vehicle of the Tesla range and the brand’s first model to be tested by Green NCAP,” said the organization.
“The car achieved high energy efficiency, not only in the Cold and Warm WLTC+ laboratory tests, but also in the challenging Highway Test with a very impressive result of 21.1 kWh/100 km. The Tesla’s small frontal area and aerodynamic shape work to the vehicle’s advantage, although in the WLTC+ test cycle at a winterly -7°C because of the high demands of cabin heating, comfort and battery protection management, consumption increases by 72% and driving range is reduced significantly. Despite this and the car’s relatively high mass, its result proves that it has been designed with special attention made to efficiency and driving range,” said the Green NCAP.
“This latest round of Green NCAP testing clearly proves that electric vehicles are an excellent consumer choice in the quest for ensuring a cleaner and more sustainable environment,” said Green NCAP secretary general Dr. Michiel van Ratingen. “They score far higher than those with conventional powertrains.”
Still, van Ratingen noted that affordability remains an issue for EVs, also encouraging manufacturers to work on winter-condition cabin heating which is well-known to hamper driving range in most EVs.
Tesla’s Model Y earned the highest five-star safety in Euro NCAP’s history earlier this year, scoring an impressive 97 percent in the Adult Occupant Protection category.
Update Nov. 14, 2022: Tesla has acknowledged its Model 3 win in a blog post today. “Tesla’s process of continuous iteration introduces running changes to vehicles to improve thermal comfort, driving dynamics, efficiency, range and more. This ensures that new customers receive the latest and greatest hardware and get the most range out of every dollar (or euro) spent on energy,” said the company.
“In fact, 1 kWh of energy allows you to drive 7 kilometers in Model 3, compared to only 2 kilometers in an equivalent ICE vehicle. This efficiency leads to customer savings. Tesla’s online Calculator for European customers shows that a German Tesla owner spends as little as 0.08 € per kilometer on a Model 3 versus 0.12 € for an equivalent ICE vehicle—that’s 35% savings per kilometer,” said Tesla.
