Consumer report on US drivers indicates EVs are improving in reliability, but still lag behind gas cars 

A recent consumer report on US drivers has indicated that EVs are improving in reliability, but still lag behind gas cars.

This comes from the 2024 report on American non-profit, Consumer Reports, in its yearly survey of car reliability.

The past few years haven’t made for great reading for the EV industry, but things are on the up.

But, electric cars and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) still have problems with reliability.

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Evs are improving, albeit slowly

Consumer Reports’ annual surveys score cars based on 20 potential problem areas, including engines, electric motors, leaks, and infotainment systems.

The group speaks to US drivers of around 300,000 vehicles from the 2022 to 2024 model years to draw its conclusions.

In years gone by, the EVs haven’t fared too great.

The 2024 survey found that they have 42 percent more problems than gas cars.

In the 2023 survey, they had 80 percent more problems than gas cars.

PHEVs also saw improvement – going from 146 percent more problems in 2023, to 70 percent more problems in 2024.

There’s still work to be done obviously, but things are moving in the right direction.

The fact that more electric car owners responded to the survey in 2024 speaks to the growing popularity of the cars.

Consumer Reports concluded:

“Tried-and-true designs tend to be more reliable, and consumers would be wise to wait a few years before purchasing a vehicle that’s been designed – or redesigned – from scratch.”

“Decades of reliability surveys tell us that it takes time for automakers to work out the bugs from new designs and technology,” says Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports.

“It seems that some manufacturers have gotten past their growing pains, while other automakers are struggling with the transition to EVs, PHEVs, and hybrids,” he went on.

Which electric cars came out on top in this survey?

The most reliable EV in Consumer Reports’ ranking was the BMW i4.

Other big scorers included the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Genesis GV60, Hyundai Ioniq 6, Kia EV9, and the Nissan Ariya.

Tesla was represented in these rankings with the Model 3 and the Model Y.

However, the Model X and Model S were deemed to have ‘below-average reliability’.

The Lucid Air was deemed to be the least reliable electric sedan overall, whilst the Rivian was deemed to be the least reliable brand overall.

It’s normal for an industry to have some teething issues, and electric vehicles are no exception.

But improvements year-on-year are an encouraging sign.

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