CLTC — the Chinese cycle, and why its numbers look better

The cycle was built to represent Chinese driving, which is more urban and lower-speed than the European profile. Lower average speed favours an electric car, so the same vehicle certifies a longer range under this procedure than under WLTP. The gap is large and it is systematic rather than random.

Why it matters when buying

Range figures for models not yet launched in Europe circulate in press coverage taken from Chinese sources, and they are almost always this cycle. When the car reaches Europe, the certified figure drops sharply — not because the specification changed, but because the yardstick did. Buyers who anchored on the earlier number feel misled by a car that never claimed anything.

There is no reliable conversion factor between the two. A rule of thumb circulates, and it is wrong often enough to be worth avoiding; the honest answer is that only a European certification tells you the European figure.

This site records only figures certified for Europe. Where a model is not yet certified, the range field stays empty and the page says so, rather than carrying a Chinese figure with a caveat that nobody reads.

Related: WLTP · NEDC · parallel import