FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSVolvo XC40
Top three failure systems, annotated from 186 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
Tyres are 74% of everything that fails a Volvo XC40
1,746 inspections in a single year make the XC40 a modestly documented electric car in the data. Tyres cause 74.0% of its failures; tyres take 3.1× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
The three-year picture
AT THREE YEARS OLD10.8%
XC40 failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.2%.
ALL ELECTRIC CARS12.0%
All electric cars in the data.
At three years old the Volvo XC40 fails 10.8% of the time, over the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. Tyres cause 74.0% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // TYRE SECTION121 certificates in 2024
The tyre that wears from the inside
Tyres take 74.0% of the defects that fail this car, 3.1× 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 121 times in 2024.
SECTION // TYRES CONCENTRATIONYear 3 crossover
Where the curve bends
The crossover with petrol happens around year 3. From there the XC40'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 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
✓ 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
- 1,746
- Passed
- 1,546
- Failed
- 186
- Passed after repair
- 14
- Failure rate
- 10.7% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 3.0 years
- Best year
- 3 yrs · 10.8%
- Worst year
- 3 yrs · 10.8%
- Top cause
- Tyres 74.0%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 74.0% | 3.1× more | |
| Suspension | 0.6% | 22.7× less | |
| Brakes | 0.6% | 31.2× less | |
| Visibility | 13.3% | in line | |
| Lighting | 2.9% | 5.7× less | |
| Steering | 0.3% | 10.3× less | |
| Body | 5.1% | in line |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- A tyre seriously damaged121
- A tyre cords visible or damaged56
- Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements23
- Tyres on the same axle or on twin wheels are different sizes17
- Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen16
- A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc14
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 (0.6% of defects vs 13.6%)
- Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.6% of defects vs 18.7%)
- Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (2.9% of defects vs 16.5%)
- Steering fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.3% 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 (74.0% vs 23.7%)
- At three years old it fails 10.8% of the time, above the 8.2% of petrol cars the same age
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- XC40 FIRST EDITION P8 AWD544
- XC40 PLUS RECHARGE TWIN EV AWD399
- XC40 PRO RECHARGE TWIN EV AWD369
- XC40 RECHARGE TWIN EV AWD319
- XC40 R-DESIGN P8 AWD89
- XC40 PLUS RECHARGE EV8
- XC40 PRO RECHARGE EV8
- XC406
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
Three things the data shows
- 1,746 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
- Tyres take 3.1× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- It ranks 45 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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