How often does the Audi e-tron fail its MOT?

9.1% of 14,319 first-time tests in 2024 were failures, against 12.0% for all electric cars.

What does the Audi e-tron most often fail on?

Tyres, 69.9% of failing defects. The single most common defect was: A tyre seriously damaged.

Audi · Fully electric · 14,319 inspections in 2024 · Rank 36 of 81DVSA MOT analysis

Tyres are 70% of everything that fails an Audi e-tron

14,319 inspections in a single year make the E-TRON one of the better-documented electric car. Tyres cause 69.9% of its failures; tyres take 2.9× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.

FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSAudi e-tron

Top three failure systems, annotated from 1,302 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.

First-time test findings

The three-year vs five-year picture

AT THREE YEARS OLD9.7%

E-TRON failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.2%.

AT FIVE YEARS OLD10.5%

E-TRON failure rate, against 10.7% for petrol.

At three years old the Audi e-tron fails 9.7% of the time, over the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. By 5 years that reaches 10.5%. Tyres cause 69.9% of its failures.

FIGURE 2 // TYRE SECTION688 certificates in 2024

The tyre that wears from the inside

Tyres take 69.9% of the defects that fail this car, 2.9× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "A tyre seriously damaged", recorded 688 times in 2024.

SECTION // TYRES CONCENTRATIONYear 3 crossover

Where the curve bends

The crossover with petrol happens around year 3. From there the E-TRON's failure rate climbs faster than the petrol fleet, and the defect list explains why.

DEFECT CONCENTRATION IN FAILED TESTS:

E-TRON tyres share69.9%

Petrol and diesel average23.7%

The single most common item on a E-TRON certificate is "A tyre seriously damaged", recorded 688 times.

Source: DVSA MOT defect items, 2024 test year.

Buyer's protocolPre-purchase checklist

What to check

Check tyre age and tread across the full width, inner edge included. Electric cars wear tyres faster; a cheap mismatched set on a used car tells you how it was run. Trivial to fix, but a car advertised with worn wipers and a fresh failure certificate tells you how it was maintained. Ask for the full MOT history by registration on the free DVSA service: advisories are next year's failures.

3 inspection points:

✓ Tyre inner-edge wear and age

✓ Wipers and washers

✓ Free DVSA MOT history check

FIGURE 3 // FAILURE RATE BY AGEvs petrol, diesel and all electric cars

Points hidden where fewer than 50 cars of that age were tested. Dashed lines are the same-age petrol and diesel fleets.

Data sheet

Inspections: 14,319
Passed: 12,855
Failed: 1,302
Passed after repair: 162
Failure rate: 9.1% (all EV 12.0%)
Average age: 3.5 years
Best year: 4 yrs · 8.1%
Worst year: 5 yrs · 10.5%
Top cause: Tyres 69.9%

TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects

System	Share	vs petrol/diesel
Tyres	69.9%	2.9× more
Suspension	0.7%	19.4× less
Brakes	2.2%	8.5× less
Visibility	10.4%	in line
Lighting	4.9%	3.4× less
Steering	0.2%	15.5× less
Body	1.3%	3.2× less

TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE

A tyre seriously damaged688
A tyre cords visible or damaged544
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements518
Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements171
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view83
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen54

Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.

Where it holds up

Suspension fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.7% of defects vs 13.6%)
Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (2.2% of defects vs 18.7%)
Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (4.9% of defects vs 16.5%)
Steering fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.2% of defects vs 3.1%)

Where it fails

Tyres take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (69.9% vs 23.7%)
At three years old it fails 9.7% of the time, above the 8.2% of petrol cars the same age

VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded

E-TRON TECHNIK 50 QUATTRO4,196
E-TRON3,488
E-TRON S LINE 55 QUATTRO1,874
E-TRON S LINE 50 QUATTRO877
E-TRON TECHNIK 55 QUATTRO831
E-TRON BLACK EDITION 55 QUAT687
E-TRON SPORT 50 QUATTRO654
E-TRON BLACK EDITION 50 QUAT510

OWNER REPORTS // MATCHED TO RECORDED DEFECTS0 read · 0 matched

No owner discussion has been matched to this car's recorded defects yet. Reports are re-collected every quarter; the figures on this page do not depend on them.

Summaries written by us, never quotes; every entry links to its source. Owner reports have no denominator and never feed the failure rate.

SIMILAR CARS IN THE DATAclosest rate and age, other brands

MG ZS9.4% fail · 13,341 tests Smart EQ8.3% fail · 2,590 tests Mercedes-Benz eVito9.1% fail · 593 tests Porsche Taycan8.5% fail · 6,264 tests

OTHER AUDI ELECTRIC CARS

Audi Q411.4% fail first time Audi RS17.4% fail first time

Three things the data shows

14,319 inspections in 2024 make this one of the best-documented electric cars in the data.
Tyres take 2.9× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
Failure rate rises from 8.1% at 4 years to 10.5% at 5: a gentle ageing curve.

LIMITS // WHAT THE INSPECTION DOES NOT TELL YOU

No battery health, no motor, no charging performance. The test covers brakes, suspension, steering, tyres, lights, visibility and structure. A car with a badly degraded battery passes as long as it stops and steers. Read this page as evidence about the chassis, not the powertrain. Cars are tested from their third year, so the newest model years are missing; every figure carries its sample size for that reason. Full methodology.