Consumer Reports finds electric vehicles still far less reliable than conventional gas-powered vehicles
As carmakers around the world rush to satiate the green energy frenzy with new electric vehicles (EVs), a new survey suggests EVs still have a long way to go. According to Consumer Reports, owners of EVs are reporting substantially higher rates of issues with their vehicles compared to owners of conventional gas-powered vehicles.
Although hybrids — perhaps surprisingly — are reportedly the most reliable classification of vehicle, gas-powered cars, trucks, and SUVs still reign supreme over EVs by a significant margin when it comes to reliability.
The recent survey, involving conventional car models from 2000-2023 and EV models from 2021-2023, established that EVs encounter nearly 80% more problems than their conventional counterparts.
Consumer Reports senior director of auto testing, Jake Fisher, said, “Most electric cars today are being manufactured by either legacy automakers that are new to EV technology, or by companies like Rivian that are new to making cars."
Fisher added that “It’s not surprising that they’re having growing pains and need some time to work out the bugs.”
The federal government’s obsession with electric vehicles appears to be a one-way street as only 3% of government-issued vehicles are zero emission.
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This new survey will likely add to the concerns that many potential EV buyers have about purchasing the new technology. Whether it be a lack of range, high costs, not enough charging stations, or reliability concerns, it appears that EVs entering the mainstream vehicle market could still take a number of years.
As reported by the Globe and Mail, "The growth of electric vehicle sales has slowed sharply since last year. In June 2022, EV sales were growing about 90 per cent year over year. By June of this year the 12-month growth rate had slowed to about 50 per cent, and automakers have become increasingly fearful that the pace will weaken further."
The Consumer Reports survey reportedly represents a sample of 330,000 vehicles and asked owners about problems with their vehicles over the previous 12 months.