FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSPeugeot iOn
Top three failure systems, annotated from 64 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
Steering faults fail the Peugeot iOn 5.6× as often as they fail a petrol or diesel car
343 inspections in a single year make the ION a modestly documented electric car in the data. Suspension cause 25.9% of its failures; steering take 5.6× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
First-time failure rate
OVERALL18.7%
Overall first-time failure rate.
ALL ELECTRIC CARS12.0%
All electric cars in the data.
The Peugeot iOn fails 18.7% of first-time inspections. Suspension cause 25.9% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // STEERING RACK AND TRACK ROD15 certificates in 2024
Play at the straight-ahead
Steering take 17.3% of the defects that fail this car, 5.6× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated", recorded 15 times in 2024.
SECTION // STEERING CONCENTRATION
Where it concentrates
The ION 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
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. Have the suspension joints, bushes and springs checked on a lift. On this car it is a leading cause of failure and it is not visible from the outside. 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
✓ Suspension joints and bushes on a lift
✓ 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
- 343
- Passed
- 266
- Failed
- 64
- Passed after repair
- 13
- Failure rate
- 18.7% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 8.4 years
- Top cause
- Suspension 25.9%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 18.9% | 1.3× less | |
| Suspension | 25.9% | 1.9× more | |
| Brakes | 14.6% | 1.3× less | |
| Visibility | 4.3% | 2.8× less | |
| Lighting | 14.6% | in line | |
| Steering | 17.3% | 5.6× more | |
| Body | 2.2% | 1.9× less |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- A tyre seriously damaged17
- A suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated15
- Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated15
- Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc13
- Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements11
- A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc9
Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.
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Where it holds up
- Visibility fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (4.3% of defects vs 11.9%)
- Body fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (2.2% of defects vs 4.1%)
Where it fails
- Suspension take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (25.9% vs 13.6%)
- Steering take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (17.3% vs 3.1%)
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- ION343
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
Citroen C-Zero20.0% fail · 130 testsTesla Model S18.0% fail · 10,892 testsNissan NV20020.1% fail · 2,903 testsMercedes-Benz B-Class15.6% fail · 397 tests
OTHER PEUGEOT ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 343 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
- Steering take 5.6× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- It ranks 73 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.
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