What Wears Out

Problem area

Electric cars with suspension problems

A battery pack adds several hundred kilograms. Some designs carry it well; others show worn joints, bushes and springs years before the rest of the fleet.

12.8%of all electric-car failing defects
13.6%on petrol and diesel cars of the same age

Models where suspension take the biggest share of failures

Share of each car's own failing defects. A high share means this is what the car fails on, not that the car fails more overall: the fail rate column tells you that.

ModelSuspension sharevs fleetOverall fail rateTests
Fiat 500E54.7%4.0×12.6%2,577
Volkswagen Abt31.2%2.3×4.2%263
Renault Zoe30.6%2.2×19.0%22,057
Citroen C-Zero27.5%2.0×20.0%130
Vauxhall Mokka27.1%2.0×8.0%2,837
Peugeot Ion25.9%1.9×18.7%343
Nissan Leaf25.5%1.9×15.4%49,764
Mercedes-Benz B-Class25.2%1.9×15.6%397
Seat Mii24.3%1.8×10.5%1,415
DS DS21.7%1.6×12.5%1,212
Citroen E-C420.6%1.5×14.2%1,413
Toyota Auris19.6%1.4×27.4%164
Peugeot 20819.0%1.4×13.4%7,252
Honda Insight17.1%1.3×23.6%140
Vauxhall Corsa16.7%1.2×14.7%8,595
Tesla Model S16.3%1.2×18.0%10,892
Nissan NV20015.2%1.1×20.1%2,903
Maxus E14.2%1.0×21.2%936
Volkswagen Golf13.5%1.0×12.1%808
Volkswagen UP12.9%0.9×9.5%201
Volkswagen E-Golf12.6%0.9×11.9%6,536
Mercedes-Benz Eqb12.5%0.9×4.7%129
MG MG12.3%0.9×11.0%700
Citroen Berlingo12.0%0.9×18.5%216
Tesla Model Y11.9%0.9×8.0%1,765
Smart Forfour11.7%0.9×15.0%386
Street Scooter Unclassified11.1%0.8×6.4%109
MG 511.1%0.8×8.6%8,748
Peugeot 200810.8%0.8×11.2%6,497
Peugeot Partner10.5%0.8×8.1%778
Renault Kangoo10.2%0.8×17.8%4,063
Tesla Model X9.4%0.7×18.3%6,208
Mercedes-Benz Eqv9.4%0.7×12.6%898
Ford Mondeo9.2%0.7×12.2%370
Tesla MODEL 39.1%0.7×14.6%67,849
Skoda Enyaq8.8%0.6×11.3%4,360
Smart Fortwo7.2%0.5×9.7%921
Toyota Proace7.1%0.5×4.8%208
Mercedes-Benz Eqc6.7%0.5×14.7%7,232
MG ZS5.8%0.4×9.4%13,341
Nissan E-NV2005.7%0.4×19.3%6,054
Volkswagen E-Up5.4%0.4×6.4%1,540
Volkswagen ID35.3%0.4×8.3%16,546
Volkswagen ID44.7%0.3×8.8%6,402
Kia Soul4.7%0.3×9.9%2,957
Mazda MX-304.3%0.3×6.4%2,026
BMW I33.7%0.3×8.8%15,271
Vauxhall Vivaro-E3.5%0.3×13.6%921
Mercedes-Benz Eqa2.9%0.2×10.1%5,119
Mercedes-Benz Evito2.9%0.2×9.1%593
Smart EQ2.8%0.2×8.3%2,590
Ford Mustang2.6%0.2×7.0%2,846
Renault Twizy1.9%0.1×20.4%500
BMW IX31.8%0.1×11.4%3,079
Audi Q41.6%0.1×11.4%3,945
Nissan Dynamo1.6%0.1×12.0%249
Polestar Polestar1.6%0.1×10.1%5,892
Audi RS1.6%0.1×17.4%172
Mini Cooper Se1.5%0.1×9.6%9,945
Porsche Taycan1.5%0.1×8.5%6,264
Jaguar I-Pace1.4%0.1×6.7%18,063
Peugeot Expert1.2%0.1×3.3%1,137
Hyundai Kona1.2%0.1×8.1%15,479
Kia Niro0.9%0.1×8.0%29,589
Hyundai Ioniq0.8%0.1×6.8%12,581
Audi E-Tron0.7%0.1×9.1%14,319
Volvo XC400.6%0.0×10.7%1,746
Kia EV60.0%0.0×5.2%1,399
BMW IX0.0%0.0×11.6%484
Mercedes-Benz Eqe0.0%0.0×2.8%939
Vauxhall Combo-E0.0%0.0×6.7%163
Lexus UX0.0%0.0×4.4%1,019
Mercedes-Benz Vito0.0%0.0×14.3%126
Toyota BZ4X0.0%0.0×0.7%138
Citroen E-Dispatch0.0%0.0×6.6%151
Skoda Citigo0.0%0.0×6.4%329
MG 40.0%0.0×5.7%966
BMW I40.0%0.0×6.4%266
Volkswagen ID50.0%0.0×2.9%204
Citroen E-Berlingo0.0%0.0×6.9%102
BYD Atto0.0%0.0×1.6%124
Honda E0.0%0.0×7.6%1,476
Mercedes-Benz Eqs0.0%0.0×3.2%280

What to ask the seller

  • Have joints, bushes and springs checked on a lift; the test finds play you cannot feel.
  • Listen for knocks over speed bumps at low speed.
  • Check whether the model has a known spring or bush issue on its page here.

Other problem areas

Tyres49.8% of electric failuresBrakes8.9% of electric failuresLighting10.7% of electric failuresVisibility11.4% of electric failuresSteering1.5% of electric failuresBody1.4% of electric failures
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