2022 What Car? Reliability Survey: electric cars

Most reliable electric cars

1. Nissan Leaf (2011-2018)

Reliability rating 98.9%

What went wrong? Brakes 5%, non-motor electrics 5%

The original Nissan Leaf is proving more dependable than the latest version; the latter is the sixth most reliable electric car with a score of 93.9%. Only 9% of owners of previous-generation models reported faults, and all of these were rectified for free by Nissan dealers. What's more, all work took a day or less to complete. 

Owner’s view "My car’s been reliable and dealers are good"

2. MG ZS EV (2019-present)

Reliability rating 95.5%

Although 15% of ZS EV owners reported faults (in areas that included the 12-volt battery, steering, bodywork and non-motor electrics), four out of five cars could still be driven. MG covered the cost of all remedial work, too, but 60 % of the stricken cars were in the garage for more than a week. 

3. Volkswagen e-Golf (2013-2020)

Reliability rating 94.7%

Almost a third of the e-Golfs in our survey had problems, but most were hiccups with the infotainment system, non-motor electrics and motor electrics. All remedial work was done for free, so no owners were left out of pocket, but a third of the problems took more than a week to remedy. 

Least reliable electric cars

1. Tesla Model S (2014-present)

Reliability rating 78.9%

What went wrong? Bodywork 21%, non-motor electrics 15%, suspension 10%, sat-nav 8%, interior trim 5%, air-con 3%, battery 3%, motor electrics 3%

The Model S has one of the highest fault rates in our survey, with 44% of the cars we were told about going wrong. Problem areas included the bodywork, sat-nav/infotainment system, interior trim, non-motor electrics and suspension. Three-quarters of repairs were done for free, but some owners paid out up to £1500, and 45% of affected cars were out of action for more than a week. 

Owner’s view "Build quality and reliability are very poor, and the heater doesn’t always work, which makes it difficult to demist the windscreen"

2. Jaguar I-Pace (2018-present)

Reliability rating 81.5%

A range of maladies afflicted 36% of the I-Paces we were told about, with the main areas of concern being the 12-volt battery, non-motor electrics and the sat-nav/infotainment system. These issues kept two-thirds of cars out of action for more than a week, although 98% of them were rectified for free under warranty. 

3. Hyundai Ioniq Electric (2016-present)

Reliability rating 84.4%%

The 12-volt battery, non-motor electrics and sat-nav/infotainment system were the main areas reported by the 20% of Ioniq Electric owners whose cars went wrong. The issues left 21% of the cars undriveable, and two-thirds spent more than a week off the road. All work was done for free, though. 

Reliability of Electric cars aged up to five years old

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