Maximum power and continuous power of electric cars can be two data that confuse those who are not & egrave; used to dealing with this type of engines. Taking advantage of a colleague's question about it, here is a short guide to understand why & eacute; on electric cars we talk about maximum (or peak) power vs continuous power. What changes? In practice you feel the difference or it is only a nominal power indicated in the car booklet but has no consequences in real driving?
- MAXIMUM POWER VS CONTINUOUS POWER
- BOOKLET POWER ELECTRIC CARS
- THE GRAY AREA
- WHAT MATTERS IN REALITY
MAXIMUM POWER VS CONTINUOUS POWER 
If you are still a beginner, recover the kW vs kWh guide like this; to have a base to start from. At this point you will know that the power of an electric motor (as well as the thermal one) is measured in kW and the number can be measured in kW. always be converted to CV.
Know that the figure in kW that electric car manufacturers advertise is; always referred to the maximum power that that car can deliver, power that & egrave; closely related to the battery because & eacute; the latter must be correctly sized. A powerful engine associated with a non-performing battery will fail; never to reach the maximum of the declared kW. Just the close symbiotic bond between engine and battery & egrave; the reason for the existence of a maximum (or peak) power and of a power in continuous conditions.
- Maximum power : means the peak power reached by the engine and supported by the battery for a short period of time. There is a time limit determined by the temperatures from the whole system: it is it is necessary not to overload it and remain within the operating limits of the design.
- Continuous power : technically it is defined as maximum net power (field P.2). In the technical data sheets we can find it with a different name, including & quot; nominal power & quot ;. By continuous power, we mean the maximum power that an engine can have. deliver on average over 30 minutes.
BOOKLET POWER ELECTRIC CARS 
By law, the nominal power in field P.2 . The reference legislation & egrave; UN/ECE number 85 which standardizes the classification and is; relating to electric vehicles of category M/N.
Let's take a Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor, here is the situation of the booklet with the P2 field:
The reported power is; of 153 kW (instead of 257 kW) and & egrave; the same on which the law goes to calculate the car tax . Today for the electric & egrave; free for 5 years (free for life in some regions) but, in a future scenario, it will be; this number that will define & agrave; the entity of the ownership tax for electric cars.
On average, approved values as & quot; maximum net power & quot; (read: continuous power) and as & quot; maximum power & quot; declared in the technical data sheets and in the advertisements, differ to a variable extent between 50 and 60% but there are not rare cases in which the delta between the two numbers is; greater.
In addition to the fiscal discourse linked to the stamp and the super stamp, there is; also a technical discourse that for & ograve; can not & ograve; be addressed comprehensively because & eacute; it depends on too many variables. The risk is to buy a car that is advertised with a very high power and then find yourself in reality; with a less performing model, in reality & agrave; it's a gray area …
THE GRAY AREA 
Better a car that reaches a peak of 250 kW but has a continuous power of 100 kW, or one that expresses the peak at 200 kW but maintains a nominal power of 150 kW? And then? How much of this difference is due to technical issues? Or is it a convenient way for manufacturers to sell electric supercars without paying the customer stamp and super stamp?
& Egrave; precisely this is the gray area which today remains such because & eacute; the numbers of electric are reduced or because & eacute; often we turn the other way to incentivize one or the other technology. An example is represented by hybrid cars that declare in the booklet (in field P.2) only the power of the petrol engine, not adding the electric horsepower.
On purely electric cars, however, it will become; it is essential to understand why & eacute; (and if) we are dealing with a very low continuous power. & Egrave; a technical issue and the engine-battery-electronics-cooling system is; poor quality? In this case, the manufacturer on duty could advertise a high peak power to attract customers, then failing to deliver even 15% continuously.
Or the manufacturer & egrave; smart , has a car that can change its performance remotely with a click on a computer because & eacute; connected to the network and therefore able to homologate supercars with negligible powers?
HOW MUCH DOES REALT MATTER? 
After trying to answer the question, let's finish Does the difference between continuous power and maximum power affect real driving?
The most witty among you will already have; understood that the answer is; the classic & quot; depends & quot ;: remember the Nissan Leaf rapidgate? Before anyone noticed it & egrave; time passed because & eacute; no one (or a few) had dreamed of taking the old Leaf on a more voyage; long.
With the power of the electric the speech is egrave; identical: on the track it will be & agrave; more easy to notice a drop in performance. On the street hardly anyone will drive; so & igrave; fast and so; long to be able to notice it, also because & eacute; the battery would discharge more quickly, we would be forced to stop and the system would have plenty of time to return to ideal temperatures.
The problem of the excessive difference between maximum and continuous power is; therefore a & quot; no problem & quot ;, except for isolated but present cases. It is clear that the number of reports and complaints could grow in the future.
As of today, for & ograve ;, I can bring you my experience by asking for yours in the comments . All tests in everyday situations, including 'long' trips as well. (for an electric car) have never led me to a situation of power cut or drop in performance, except for the exceptions reported and children of a design limited to a certain usage scenario.
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