Reliability Survey: Most and least reliable electric SUVs

Electric SUVs are designed to offer the best of both worlds: pure electric motoring and the practicality of the SUV body style. It’s no surprise, then, that it’s another fast-growing car class. 

While some electric SUVs performed exceptionally well in our Reliability Survey though, others suffered a high proportion of problems. 

How the research was carried out 

Our annual Reliability Survey, conducted in association with MotorEasy, polls thousands of drivers on the dependability of their car. Our latest survey gathered more than 21,000 responses, allowing us to gather data on 178 models (up to five years old) across 32 brands. 

Drivers were asked about any faults their car had suffered in the past two years. We also asked how much the issue cost to repair and how long the car spent in the workshop. We then used all of this data to create a unique reliability rating for each car. 

Here’s how electric SUVs performed according to our latest data. 

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Most reliable electric SUVs

1. Ford Mustang Mach-E (2020-present)

Reliability rating 100%

What went wrong? Nothing 

Ford may not have as much experience at making electric cars as some other brands (the Ford Mustang Mach-E being its first of the modern era), but you’d never know it, if this car’s reliability is any indication. Of the owners who responded to our survey, not a single one reported a fault with their car, making the Mach-E the brand’s most dependable model.

Owner’s view: “One of the best cars I’ve owned; definitely the most reliable.”

2. BMW iX3 (2021-present)

Reliability rating 99.3%

With a fault rate of just 6%, the BMW iX3 is more dependable than its petrol-powered sibling, the BMW X3 (29%). The infotainment system was the only area to give any grief, but all cars remained driveable and were fixed in a day or less. What’s more, BMW covered the cost of all remedial work.

3. Tesla Model Y (2021-present)

Reliability rating 97.4%

Tesla has really upped its game when it comes to reliability, as the Tesla Model Y proves. Only 12% of respondents reported a fault with their car, and the only areas of concern were the bodywork, non-motor electrics and infotainment. All cars were fixed for free and 80% were back on the road within a day.

4. Skoda Enyaq iV (2021-present)

Reliability rating 93.8% 

Non-engine electrical glitches caused the most grief for the 25% of Skoda Enyaq iV owners who told us their cars had gone wrong. There were also a small percentage of issues with the sat-nav/infotainment and engine electrics. Skoda covered the cost of all repairs and only 8% of vehicles were off the road for more than a week.

5. MG ZS EV (2019-present)

Reliability rating 93.5% 

A quarter of the MG ZS EVs in our survey had a problem. The vast majority of faults were to do with the engine and non-engine electrics. There were also some troubles surrounding the air-con, battery, bodywork and brakes. It’s reassuring, though, that MG paid for all of the cars that went wrong. Most cars could still be driven and were repaired in less than a week.

6. Hyundai Ioniq 5 (2021-present)

Reliability rating 92.6%

Bodywork issues were the main problem areas with the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Overall, 19% of cars reported on had a fault, and 7% of them were involving the battery, while 4% were to do with the sat-nav/infotainment system. The good news is that Hyundai paid for most (83%) of the issues and most cars were still driveable. Not so good, is that the remaining 17% of owners faced bills exceeding £1500 per fault.  Only 33% of cars were out of action for more than a week, though.

Least reliable electric SUVs

1. Vauxhall Mokka Electric (2020-present)

Reliability rating 60.6%

What went wrong? Battery 40%, sat-nav/infotainment 27%, air-con 13%, bodywork 13%, motor 13%, motor electrics 13%, non-motor electrics 13%, steering 13%

Slow and sometimes costly repairs were the main bugbears for the 13% of Vauxhall Mokka Electric owners whose cars went wrong. Of that group, 40% of cars were rendered undriveable, and half were out of action for more than a week. Although 90% of cars were fixed for free, the remainder cost more than £1500 to put right.

Owner’s view “Just two days after I got it, my car needed around £8500 worth of work done to it. Thankfully, it was fixed under warranty.”

2. Jaguar I-Pace (2018-present)

Reliability rating 85.9%

A sizeable 42% of Jaguar I-Pace owners reported problems in a wide range of areas that were slow to be fixed. More than half (58%) of cars were out of action for more than a week, 35% of them having been rendered undriveable. Jaguar covered the cost of 98% of repairs, but the remainder of owners faced bills of more than £1500.

3. Audi Q8 e-tron (2019-present)

Reliability rating 92.6%

Audi’s largest electric SUV, the Audi Q8 e-tron (previously named the Audi e-tron) gave trouble for 40% of owners, with the most common fault areas being non-motor electrics (25%) and infotainment (15%). Most of the afflicted cars could still be driven, but two-thirds spent up to a week being fixed and the rest were laid up for even longer. Still, no owner was charged for the work.

To read the reliability data for other car classes follow these links:

All cars and SUVs here
Most reliable small cars
Most reliable family cars
Most reliable executive cars
Most reliable luxury cars
Most reliable small SUVs
Most reliable family SUVs
Most reliable large SUVs
Most reliable seven-seaters
Most reliable electric cars
Most reliable sports cars
Most reliable car brands
Most reliable diesel cars

Reliability of electric SUVs aged up to five years old

About the report author 

Claire Evans has been a motoring journalist for more than 30 years with a focus on consumer issues for much of that time. She was the advice columnist for Carweek magazine in the 1990s, and also spent six years working on motoring content for Which?.

Claire launched the What Car? Reliability Survey in 2017, and since then has helped thousands of buyers choose the most reliable new cars and SUVs, as well as the most dependable used cars.

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