FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSHyundai Ioniq
Top three failure systems, annotated from 850 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
Wiper and visibility defects fail the Hyundai Ioniq 2.7× as often as they fail a petrol or diesel car
12,581 inspections in a single year make the IONIQ one of the better-documented electric car. Tyres cause 42.7% of its failures; visibility take 2.7× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
The three-year vs eight-year picture
AT THREE YEARS OLD7.0%
IONIQ failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.2%.
AT EIGHT YEARS OLD17.1%
IONIQ failure rate, against 17.5% for petrol.
At three years old the Hyundai Ioniq fails 7.0% of the time, under the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. By 8 years that reaches 17.1%. Tyres cause 42.7% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // WINDSCREEN AND WIPER340 certificates in 2024
The cheapest failure on the list
Visibility take 31.6% of the defects that fail this car, 2.7× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen", recorded 340 times in 2024.
SECTION // VISIBILITY CONCENTRATION
Where it concentrates
The IONIQ stays under the petrol fleet at every age we can measure. What it does fail on is unusually concentrated.
Source: DVSA MOT defect items, 2024 test year.
What to check
Trivial to fix, but a car advertised with worn wipers and a fresh failure certificate tells you how it was maintained. 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. Check the washers reach the screen. It fails the test and it is a thirty-second check. Ask for the full MOT history by registration on the free DVSA service: advisories are next year's failures.
3 inspection points:
✓ Wipers and washers
✓ Tyre inner-edge wear and age
✓ Washer reach
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
- 12,581
- Passed
- 11,312
- Failed
- 850
- Passed after repair
- 419
- Failure rate
- 6.8% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 3.6 years
- Best year
- 4 yrs · 6.7%
- Worst year
- 8 yrs · 17.1%
- Top cause
- Tyres 42.7%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 42.7% | 1.8× more | |
| Suspension | 0.8% | 17.0× less | |
| Brakes | 11.3% | 1.7× less | |
| Visibility | 31.6% | 2.7× more | |
| Lighting | 9.3% | 1.8× less | |
| Steering | 0.5% | 6.2× less | |
| Body | 2.0% | 2.0× less |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen340
- Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements283
- A tyre seriously damaged212
- A tyre cords visible or damaged81
- Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen64
- Wiper blade defective47
Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.
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Where it holds up
- Suspension fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.8% of defects vs 13.6%)
- Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (11.3% of defects vs 18.7%)
- Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (9.3% of defects vs 16.5%)
- Steering fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.5% 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 (42.7% vs 23.7%)
- Visibility take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (31.6% vs 11.9%)
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- IONIQ9,675
- IONIQ 5 PREMIUM EV1,889
- IONIQ 5 ULTIMATE EV715
- IONIQ 5 PROJECT 45 EV 4X4155
- IONIQ 5 ULTIMATE EV 4X495
- IONIQ 5 SE CONNECT EV25
- IONIQ 5 PREMIUM EV 4X47
- IONIQ 5 NAMSAN EDITION EV5
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
Jaguar I-Pace6.7% fail · 18,063 testsSkoda Citigo6.4% fail · 329 testsHonda E7.6% fail · 1,477 testsVolkswagen e-Up6.4% fail · 1,540 tests
OTHER HYUNDAI ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 12,581 inspections in 2024 make this one of the best-documented electric cars in the data.
- Visibility take 2.7× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- Failure rate rises from 6.7% at 4 years to 17.1% at 8: a steep 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.
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