FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSMercedes-Benz EQV
Top three failure systems, annotated from 113 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
Body and structure defects fail the Mercedes-Benz EQV 4.4× as often as they fail a petrol or diesel car
898 inspections in a single year make the EQV a modestly documented electric car in the data. Tyres cause 49.8% of its failures; body take 4.4× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
The three-year vs four-year picture
AT THREE YEARS OLD12.4%
EQV failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.2%.
AT FOUR YEARS OLD13.2%
EQV failure rate, against 8.9% for petrol.
At three years old the Mercedes-Benz EQV fails 12.4% of the time, over the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. By 4 years that reaches 13.2%. Tyres cause 49.8% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // SILL AND UNDERBODY69 certificates in 2024
Corrosion where it should not be yet
Body take 17.9% of the defects that fail this car, 4.4× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "A tyre cords visible or damaged", recorded 69 times in 2024.
SECTION // BODY CONCENTRATIONYear 3 crossover
Where the curve bends
The crossover with petrol happens around year 3. From there the EQV'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. Ask when the brakes were last stripped and cleaned. Regenerative braking barely wears the pads, so discs and calipers corrode and seize instead. 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
✓ Rear caliper drag and disc lip
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
- 898
- Passed
- 776
- Failed
- 113
- Passed after repair
- 9
- Failure rate
- 12.6% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 3.2 years
- Best year
- 3 yrs · 12.4%
- Worst year
- 4 yrs · 13.2%
- Top cause
- Tyres 49.8%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 49.8% | 2.1× more | |
| Suspension | 9.4% | 1.4× less | |
| Brakes | 8.1% | 2.3× less | |
| Visibility | 8.5% | 1.4× less | |
| Lighting | 5.1% | 3.2× less | |
| Steering | 0.0% | in line | |
| Body | 17.9% | 4.4× more |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- A tyre cords visible or damaged69
- A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc40
- A tyre seriously damaged36
- A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage15
- Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen13
- Service brake efficiency below minimum requirement9
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 (9.4% of defects vs 13.6%)
- Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (8.1% of defects vs 18.7%)
- Visibility fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (8.5% of defects vs 11.9%)
- Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (5.1% of defects vs 16.5%)
Where it fails
- Tyres take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (49.8% vs 23.7%)
- Body take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (17.9% vs 4.1%)
- At three years old it fails 12.4% of the time, above the 8.2% of petrol cars the same age
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- EQV 300 SPORT PREMIUM642
- EQV 300 SPORT209
- EQV 300 SPORT PREMIUM +44
- EQV 3002
- EQV1
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
Fiat 500E12.6% fail · 2,577 testsDS 312.5% fail · 1,212 testsNissan Dynamo12.0% fail · 249 testsVauxhall Vivaro-E13.6% fail · 921 tests
OTHER MERCEDES-BENZ ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 898 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
- Body take 4.4× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- Failure rate rises from 12.4% at 3 years to 13.2% at 4: 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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