FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSRenault Twizy
Top three failure systems, annotated from 102 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
The Renault Twizy fails its MOT more often than almost any other electric car: 20.4% first time
500 inspections in a single year make the TWIZY a modestly documented electric car in the data. Brakes cause 45.3% of its failures; steering take 2.5× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
The five-year vs nine-year picture
AT FIVE YEARS OLD18.0%
TWIZY failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 10.7%.
AT NINE YEARS OLD19.0%
TWIZY failure rate, against 19.9% for petrol.
The Renault Twizy fails 20.4% of first-time inspections. By 9 years that reaches 19.0%. Brakes cause 45.3% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // STEERING RACK AND TRACK ROD27 certificates in 2024
Play at the straight-ahead
Steering take 7.7% of the defects that fail this car, 2.5× 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 27 times in 2024.
SECTION // STEERING CONCENTRATIONYear 5 crossover
Where the curve bends
The crossover with petrol happens around year 5. From there the TWIZY'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. Test the parking brake on a slope and listen for one side dragging. Uneven operation shows up on this model and the repair is not cheap. 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
✓ Rear caliper drag and disc lip
✓ Parking brake on a slope
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
- 500
- Passed
- 384
- Failed
- 102
- Passed after repair
- 14
- Failure rate
- 20.4% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 7.2 years
- Best year
- 5 yrs · 18.0%
- Worst year
- 9 yrs · 19.0%
- Top cause
- Brakes 45.3%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 10.0% | 2.4× less | |
| Suspension | 1.9% | 7.2× less | |
| Brakes | 45.3% | 2.4× more | |
| Visibility | 5.1% | 2.3× less | |
| Lighting | 27.7% | 1.7× more | |
| Steering | 7.7% | 2.5× more | |
| Body | 1.0% | 4.1× less |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements27
- a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm24
- Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement19
- A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED19
- Parking brake inoperative on one side17
- Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake15
Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.
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Where it holds up
- Tyres fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (10.0% of defects vs 23.7%)
- Suspension fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (1.9% of defects vs 13.6%)
- Visibility fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (5.1% of defects vs 11.9%)
- Body fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (1.0% of defects vs 4.1%)
Where it fails
- Brakes take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (45.3% vs 18.7%)
- Lighting take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (27.7% vs 16.5%)
- Steering take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (7.7% vs 3.1%)
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- TWIZY485
- TWIZY I EXPRESSION EV8
- TWIZY I DYNAMIQUE EV7
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
Nissan NV20020.1% fail · 2,903 testsCitroen C-Zero20.0% fail · 130 testsTesla Model S18.0% fail · 10,892 testsHonda Insight23.6% fail · 140 tests
OTHER RENAULT ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 500 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
- Steering take 2.5× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- Failure rate rises from 18.0% at 5 years to 19.0% at 9: 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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