CLTC Explained: Reading China's EV Range Numbers

Shopping for a Chinese-market EV — or an imported one — you’ll notice the range figures look generous. That’s CLTC at work, the most optimistic of the four major standards.

What CLTC is

CLTC (China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle) is tuned to local driving patterns, which lean heavily on urban, low-speed conditions. With little sustained high-speed running in the cycle, energy use looks low and range looks high.

Why its numbers are the highest

High-speed driving is where EVs lose efficiency fastest. Because CLTC underweights it, the resulting figures top every other standard for the same battery — often noticeably above even WLTP.

Converting CLTC to WLTP and EPA

Use WLTP ≈ CLTC × 0.82 as a rough working estimate — a ballpark, not a precise figure. Real cars vary widely (some land closer to 0.70–0.75), so a 600 km CLTC car is somewhere around 420–490 km WLTP. Chaining a second conversion on top (to an EPA-equivalent) only compounds the uncertainty, so where you can, lean on a certified figure for the standard you actually care about. Either way, the drop from headline to real-world is steep.

How to shop with CLTC numbers

Never compare a CLTC figure directly against an EPA or WLTP one — you’ll overrate the Chinese-market car. Convert everything to a single standard first. A converter does this instantly, so a 600 km CLTC and a 500 km WLTP car reveal themselves as near-identical in real range.