The 5-cycle test is more forgiving but also more expensive. Lucid and Tesla pay the extra time and money for the more forgiving (but not unachievable, at least by Lucid, as we’ve seen countless times) test. The German manufacturers (and others) don’t. That’s it.
They aren’t “hiding behind EPA test results.” That’s a mischaracterization and you know it.
They are increasingly providing more accurate info about range left now. When you have nav on, especially, it now takes into account a lot more things as of 2.1.2: HVAC and defrost settings, vehicle occupancy, and so on, and will automatically add additional charging stops if it deems it necessary.
To say they are hiding behind the EPA or not working on it is a lie. They are advertising EPA because that is *literally what every single manufacturer does* and they have to abide by EPA guidelines for their testing. But between opting for the better marketing (aka the achievable higher range, though inconsistent and varied based on a number of factors) and opting for the lower number, they opt for the higher one, just like Tesla. That’s not hiding. That’s literally following the regulations, to the tee.
Your AMG EQS does “better than EPA” because they use the 2-cycle test. Apples to Apples, pound for pound, the Air wipes the floor with other manufacturers in terms of efficiency. Whether you look at EPA numbers is irrelevant.