FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSMercedes-Benz eVito
Top three failure systems, annotated from 54 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
Body and structure defects fail the Mercedes-Benz eVito 6.9× as often as they fail a petrol or diesel car
593 inspections in a single year make the EVITO a modestly documented electric car in the data. Tyres cause 28.2% of its failures; body take 6.9× 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 OLD6.7%
EVITO failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.2%.
AT FOUR YEARS OLD28.3%
EVITO failure rate, against 8.9% for petrol.
At three years old the Mercedes-Benz eVito fails 6.7% of the time, under the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. By 4 years that reaches 28.3%. Tyres cause 28.2% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // SILL AND UNDERBODY27 certificates in 2024
Corrosion where it should not be yet
Body take 28.2% of the defects that fail this car, 6.9× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc", recorded 27 times in 2024.
SECTION // BODY CONCENTRATIONYear 4 crossover
Where the curve bends
The crossover with petrol happens around year 4. From there the EVITO'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. 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
✓ Rear caliper drag and disc lip
✓ 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
- 593
- Passed
- 524
- Failed
- 54
- Passed after repair
- 15
- Failure rate
- 9.1% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 3.1 years
- Best year
- 3 yrs · 6.7%
- Worst year
- 4 yrs · 28.3%
- Top cause
- Tyres 28.2%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 28.2% | in line | |
| Suspension | 2.9% | 4.7× less | |
| Brakes | 20.4% | in line | |
| Visibility | 9.7% | in line | |
| Lighting | 5.8% | 2.8× less | |
| Steering | 0.0% | in line | |
| Body | 28.2% | 6.9× more |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc27
- A tyre cords visible or damaged11
- Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement8
- A tyre seriously damaged8
- Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements6
- Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements4
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 (2.9% of defects vs 13.6%)
- Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (5.8% of defects vs 16.5%)
- Steering fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.0% of defects vs 3.1%)
- At three years old it fails 6.7% of the time, below the 8.2% of petrol cars the same age
Where it fails
- Body take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (28.2% vs 4.1%)
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- EVITO PROGRESSIVE293
- EVITO TOURER PRO256
- EVITO TOURER PREMIUM28
- EVITO TOURER11
- EVITO 66 PROGRESSIVE5
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
Volkswagen ID.48.8% fail · 6,402 testsMG58.7% fail · 9,448 testsAudi e-tron9.1% fail · 14,319 testsMini Cooper SE9.6% fail · 9,945 tests
OTHER MERCEDES-BENZ ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 593 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
- Body take 6.9× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- Failure rate rises from 6.7% at 3 years to 28.3% at 4: 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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