How often does the Kia EV6 fail its MOT?

5.2% of 1,399 first-time tests in 2024 were failures, against 12.0% for all electric cars.

What does the Kia EV6 most often fail on?

Tyres, 72.7% of failing defects. The single most common defect was: Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements.

Kia · Fully electric · 1,399 inspections in 2024 · Rank 11 of 81DVSA MOT analysis

Tyres are 73% of everything that fails a Kia EV6

1,399 inspections in a single year make the EV6 a modestly documented electric car in the data. Tyres cause 72.7% of its failures; tyres take 3.1× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.

FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSKia EV6

Top three failure systems, annotated from 73 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.

First-time test findings

The three-year picture

AT THREE YEARS OLD5.7%

EV6 failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.2%.

ALL ELECTRIC CARS12.0%

All electric cars in the data.

At three years old the Kia EV6 fails 5.7% of the time, under the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. Tyres cause 72.7% of its failures.

FIGURE 2 // TYRE SECTION52 certificates in 2024

The tyre that wears from the inside

Tyres take 72.7% of the defects that fail this car, 3.1× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", recorded 52 times in 2024.

SECTION // TYRES CONCENTRATION

Where it concentrates

The EV6 stays under the petrol fleet at every age we can measure. What it does fail on is unusually concentrated.

DEFECT CONCENTRATION IN FAILED TESTS:

EV6 tyres share72.7%

Petrol and diesel average23.7%

The single most common item on a EV6 certificate is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", recorded 52 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: 1,399
Passed: 1,302
Failed: 73
Passed after repair: 24
Failure rate: 5.2% (all EV 12.0%)
Average age: 3.0 years
Best year: 3 yrs · 5.7%
Worst year: 3 yrs · 5.7%
Top cause: Tyres 72.7%

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

System	Share	vs petrol/diesel
Tyres	72.7%	3.1× more
Suspension	0.0%	in line
Brakes	3.0%	6.2× less
Visibility	12.1%	in line
Lighting	5.3%	3.1× less
Steering	0.0%	in line
Body	0.8%	5.1× less

TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements52
A tyre seriously damaged37
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen9
A tyre cords visible or damaged6
Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements4
A wheel with a loose or missing wheel nut, bolt or stud4

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 (0.0% of defects vs 13.6%)
Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (3.0% of defects vs 18.7%)
Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (5.3% of defects vs 16.5%)
Steering fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.0% 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 (72.7% vs 23.7%)

VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded

EV6 AIR415
EV6 GT-LINE S382
EV6 GT-LINE333
EV6 GT-LINE S AWD168
EV6 GT-LINE AWD93
EV6 HORIZON6
EV6 GT AWD1
EV61

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

Toyota Proace4.8% fail · 208 tests Lexus UX4.4% fail · 1,019 tests BMW i46.4% fail · 266 tests Volkswagen ABT4.2% fail · 263 tests

OTHER KIA ELECTRIC CARS

Kia Niro8.0% fail first time Kia Soul9.9% fail first time

Three things the data shows

1,399 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
Tyres take 3.1× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
It ranks 11 of 81 electric cars by first-time failure rate.

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.