Which electric car is the most reliable?

Let's take a look at some surveys from overseas to determine which is the most reliable electric car, based on consumer feedback.

Sean Nurse

19 Jan 2023 · 13:04Buying a Car

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While electric vehicles (EVs) have been touted as the future of personal mobility, South Africans have not adopted these products in droves as we have seen in Europe, China and North America, with just over 2 000 EVs having been sold locally at the time of writing and just 125 listed on AutoTrader as of January 2023. With our small local sample size, a survey to determine the reliability of EVs would be inaccurate, but luckily, in markets with a higher EV adoption rate, there are survey results that can be used to determine which EV is the most reliable.

What Car? survey

British publication What Car? conducts annual surveys amongst the general population to determine the reliability of the vehicles sold in the United Kingdom. Its electric car satisfaction survey included products up to five years old while the sample population was over 25 000 people. The most recent findings include the previous-generation Nissan Leaf, produced between 2011 and 2018. Owners scored the Leaf highly, with its overall reliability rating sitting at a healthy 98.9%.

Consumer Reports

The USA-based Consumer Reports is a comprehensive survey that has hundreds of thousands of Americans providing feedback on their vehicle ownership experience. When looking at the electric vehicle segment of the survey, we see that the new Kia EV6 is the most reliable EV of 2022, however, as the publication asserts in its findings, the Tesla Model 3, which ranked second, has been around for longer, unlike the Kia, which has only been on sale for a year, meaning that with more time in the market, the Kia may lose its crown.

J.D.Power

J.D. Power is considered the industry standard when it comes to vehicle-related, consumer-based surveys. Their latest data suggests that the Tesla Model 3 is the most reliable EV overall, followed closely by the Tesla Model Y.

Written by Sean Nurse

With a lifelong passion for cars, bikes, and motorsport, Sean knew that attaining a degree in journalism would allow him to pursue his passion, which was to be a motoring journalist. After graduating in 2012, Sean was awarded a bursary from the SAGMJ which allowed him to work for a variety of motoring publications. This was a dream come true for Sean, and after a year of gaining vital industry experience, he was hired as a motoring journalist at a local newspaper and worked his way up to editor. In 2020, Sean joined the AutoTrader team and counts himself lucky to wake up and genuinely love what he does for a living.Read more