FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSVolkswagen e-Golf
Top three failure systems, annotated from 777 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
Tyres are 65% of everything that fails a Volkswagen e-Golf
6,536 inspections in a single year make the E-GOLF one of the better-documented electric car. Tyres cause 65.1% of its failures; tyres take 2.7× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
The four-year vs six-year picture
AT FOUR YEARS OLD11.8%
E-GOLF failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.9%.
AT SIX YEARS OLD10.2%
E-GOLF failure rate, against 12.9% for petrol.
The Volkswagen e-Golf fails 11.9% of first-time inspections. By 5 years that reaches 12.2%. Tyres cause 65.1% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // TYRE SECTION361 certificates in 2024
The tyre that wears from the inside
Tyres take 65.1% of the defects that fail this car, 2.7× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "A tyre seriously damaged", recorded 361 times in 2024.
SECTION // TYRES CONCENTRATIONYear 4 crossover
Where the curve bends
The crossover with petrol happens around year 4. From there the E-GOLF'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. Check the washers reach the screen. It fails the test and it is a thirty-second check. 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
✓ Washer reach
✓ Wipers and washers
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
- 6,536
- Passed
- 5,639
- Failed
- 777
- Passed after repair
- 120
- Failure rate
- 11.9% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 4.6 years
- Best year
- 6 yrs · 10.2%
- Worst year
- 5 yrs · 12.2%
- Top cause
- Tyres 65.1%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 65.1% | 2.7× more | |
| Suspension | 12.6% | in line | |
| Brakes | 3.7% | 5.1× less | |
| Visibility | 8.8% | 1.4× less | |
| Lighting | 5.0% | 3.3× less | |
| Steering | 0.7% | 4.4× less | |
| Body | 0.4% | 10.2× less |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- A tyre seriously damaged361
- A tyre cords visible or damaged319
- Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements170
- A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage155
- Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen40
- Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen39
Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.
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Where it holds up
- Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (3.7% of defects vs 18.7%)
- Visibility fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (8.8% of defects vs 11.9%)
- Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (5.0% of defects vs 16.5%)
- Steering fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.7% 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 (65.1% vs 23.7%)
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- E-GOLF6,536
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
Kia Soul9.9% fail · 2,957 testsNissan Dynamo12.0% fail · 249 testsDS 312.5% fail · 1,212 testsMercedes-Benz Vito14.3% fail · 126 tests
OTHER VOLKSWAGEN ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 6,536 inspections in 2024 make this one of the best-documented electric cars in the data.
- Tyres take 2.7× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- Failure rate rises from 10.2% at 6 years to 12.2% at 5: 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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