FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSHyundai Kona
Top three failure systems, annotated from 1,255 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
Tyres are 58% of everything that fails a Hyundai Kona
15,479 inspections in a single year make the KONA one of the better-documented electric car. Tyres cause 57.9% of its failures; tyres take 2.4× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
The three-year vs six-year picture
AT THREE YEARS OLD7.5%
KONA failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.2%.
AT SIX YEARS OLD11.0%
KONA failure rate, against 12.9% for petrol.
At three years old the Hyundai Kona fails 7.5% of the time, under the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. By 6 years that reaches 11.0%. Tyres cause 57.9% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // TYRE SECTION502 certificates in 2024
The tyre that wears from the inside
Tyres take 57.9% of the defects that fail this car, 2.4× 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 502 times in 2024.
SECTION // TYRES CONCENTRATIONYear 4 crossover
Where the curve bends
The crossover with petrol happens around year 4. From there the KONA's failure rate climbs faster than the petrol fleet, and the defect list explains why.
Source: DVSA MOT defect items, 2024 test year.
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. Check headlamp aim and every lamp before the test. It is the cheapest failure on the list and the easiest to avoid. 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
✓ Headlamp aim and every lamp
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
- 15,479
- Passed
- 13,575
- Failed
- 1,255
- Passed after repair
- 649
- Failure rate
- 8.1% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 3.5 years
- Best year
- 3 yrs · 7.5%
- Worst year
- 6 yrs · 11.0%
- Top cause
- Tyres 57.9%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 57.9% | 2.4× more | |
| Suspension | 1.2% | 11.3× less | |
| Brakes | 8.4% | 2.2× less | |
| Visibility | 18.4% | 1.5× more | |
| Lighting | 10.8% | 1.5× less | |
| Steering | 0.1% | 31.0× less | |
| Body | 0.8% | 5.1× less |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- A tyre seriously damaged502
- Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements344
- A tyre cords visible or damaged288
- Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen223
- The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements65
- Wiper blade defective62
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 (1.2% of defects vs 13.6%)
- Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (8.4% of defects vs 18.7%)
- Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (10.8% of defects vs 16.5%)
- Steering fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.1% 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 (57.9% vs 23.7%)
- Visibility take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (18.4% vs 11.9%)
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- KONA13,320
- KONA ULTIMATE EV1,824
- KONA SE CONNECT EV270
- KONA ADVANCE EV65
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
Tesla Model Y8.0% fail · 1,766 testsSmart EQ8.3% fail · 2,590 testsKia Niro8.0% fail · 29,589 testsHonda E7.6% fail · 1,477 tests
OTHER HYUNDAI ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 15,479 inspections in 2024 make this one of the best-documented electric cars in the data.
- Tyres take 2.4× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- Failure rate rises from 7.5% at 3 years to 11.0% at 6: 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.
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