What Wears Out

What wears out on an electric car? Tyres, twice as often as on petrol.

We read every first-time inspection of a fully electric car in 2024, 442,243 of them, and matched the defects against petrol and diesel cars of the same age. This is what a used electric car actually costs to keep on the road.

49.8%of electric-car failures are tyres, vs 23.7% on petrol and diesel
8.9%are brakes, vs 18.7%: regenerative braking spares the pads
83models with enough tests to say something

Start from the problem you are worried about

Which electric cars wear tyres fastest?49.8% of electric failuresWhich electric cars wear out suspension joints and bushes?12.8% of electric failuresWhich electric cars fail on brakes despite barely using them?8.9% of electric failuresWhich electric cars fail on lights and electrical equipment?10.7% of electric failuresWhich electric cars fail on wipers and washers?11.4% of electric failuresWhich electric cars show steering wear?1.5% of electric failuresWhich electric cars show body and structural defects?1.4% of electric failures

Fewest first-time failures

  1. Toyota BZ4X0.7%
  2. BYD Atto1.6%
  3. Mercedes-Benz Eqe2.8%
  4. Volkswagen ID52.9%
  5. Mercedes-Benz Eqs3.2%
  6. Peugeot Expert3.3%
  7. Volkswagen Abt4.2%
  8. Lexus UX4.4%
Full ranking of 83 models

Most first-time failures

  1. Toyota Auris27.4%
  2. Honda Insight23.6%
  3. Maxus E21.2%
  4. Renault Twizy20.4%
  5. Nissan NV20020.1%
  6. Citroen C-Zero20.0%
  7. Nissan E-NV20019.3%
  8. Renault Zoe19.0%
Full ranking of 83 models

Failure rate by age: electric, petrol, diesel

    Electric cars fail more often than petrol cars at every age, and overtake diesel from about seven years. Not because they are fragile: because they wear tyres and suspension faster, and because seized brakes fail a test just as surely as worn ones.

    All 83 models

    AudiE-TRON 9.1%Q4 11.4%RS 17.4%
    BMWI3 8.8%I4 6.4%IX 11.6%IX3 11.4%
    BYDATTO 1.6%
    CitroenBERLINGO 18.5%C-ZERO 20.0%E-BERLINGO 6.9%E-C4 14.2%E-DISPATCH 6.6%
    DSDS 12.5%
    Fiat500E 12.6%
    FordMONDEO 12.2%MUSTANG 7.0%
    HondaE 7.6%INSIGHT 23.6%
    HyundaiIONIQ 6.8%KONA 8.1%
    JaguarI-PACE 6.7%
    KiaEV6 5.2%NIRO 8.0%SOUL 9.9%
    LexusUX 4.4%
    MG4 5.7%5 8.6%MG 11.0%ZS 9.4%
    MaxusE 21.2%
    MazdaMX-30 6.4%
    Mercedes-BenzB-CLASS 15.6%EQA 10.1%EQB 4.7%EQC 14.7%EQE 2.8%EQS 3.2%EQV 12.6%EVITO 9.1%VITO 14.3%
    MiniCOOPER SE 9.6%
    NissanDYNAMO 12.0%E-NV200 19.3%LEAF 15.4%NV200 20.1%
    Peugeot2008 11.2%208 13.4%EXPERT 3.3%ION 18.7%PARTNER 8.1%
    PolestarPOLESTAR 10.1%
    PorscheTAYCAN 8.5%
    RenaultKANGOO 17.8%TWIZY 20.4%ZOE 19.0%
    SeatMII 10.5%
    SkodaCITIGO 6.4%ENYAQ 11.3%
    SmartEQ 8.3%FORFOUR 15.0%FORTWO 9.7%
    Street ScooterUNCLASSIFIED 6.4%
    TeslaMODEL 3 14.6%MODEL S 18.0%MODEL X 18.3%MODEL Y 8.0%
    ToyotaAURIS 27.4%BZ4X 0.7%PROACE 4.8%
    VauxhallCOMBO-E 6.7%CORSA 14.7%MOKKA 8.0%VIVARO-E 13.6%
    VolkswagenABT 4.2%E-GOLF 11.9%E-UP 6.4%GOLF 12.1%ID3 8.3%ID4 8.8%ID5 2.9%UP 9.5%
    VolvoXC40 10.7%
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