Consumer Reports shares insights about electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) from its latest reliability survey, including the most reliable electric car.
Yeah this is actually a pretty poor report… though I’d expect nothing less from Consumer Reports that has been an awful rag for at least a decade.
This is classing trim and rattle issues as a reliability issue which it just isn’t. And Tesla for all the great stuff they have accomplished have definitely had a massive problem with fit and finish which has skewed these numbers to an atrocious degree.
You go look at EV’s from established car manufacturers who have experience in fit and finish and you’ll find a different story entirely. My Polestar 2 has been insanely reliable; it hasn’t left me stranded once in 2 years and 36,000 miles except yesterday when an augur bit lying in the road punched through my tire and rim… hardly a problem with the car. It has been in the shop twice; once for maintenance and once for a headlight unit that failed. By time I had my previous ICE vehicle for that amount of time I’d had electronic issues that had stalled the car twice, a fuel pump replaced and been through a total of 3 tires and two rims due to damage on the roads.
EV’s have far fewer critical moving parts to fail and have a surprising amount of redundancy built in. Heck, a critical failure of a motor won’t even necessarily stop most dual-motor EV’s unless it fails in a way that freezes up the drive shaft.
Amusingly, if you get a flat in a Tesla (and are in a reasonably populated area), their roadside service will just bring you a new wheel, put it on the car for you, take your rim back to the shop, mount a new tire on it, bring it back your your house, and swap the wheels in your driveway.
I have never heard of any other car maker doing that. For all the hate Tesla gets here, the mobile service vans are an incredible experience.
My Polestar 2 has been insanely reliable; it hasn’t left me stranded once in 2 years and 36,000 miles
Just want to point out that one personal anecdotal experience isn’t really saying much though. I mean, my Mazdaspeed 3 hasn’t left me stranded once in 13 years and 115,000kms either (Yet they have a reputation for being unreliable cars)
Yeah this is actually a pretty poor report… though I’d expect nothing less from Consumer Reports that has been an awful rag for at least a decade.
This is classing trim and rattle issues as a reliability issue which it just isn’t. And Tesla for all the great stuff they have accomplished have definitely had a massive problem with fit and finish which has skewed these numbers to an atrocious degree.
You go look at EV’s from established car manufacturers who have experience in fit and finish and you’ll find a different story entirely. My Polestar 2 has been insanely reliable; it hasn’t left me stranded once in 2 years and 36,000 miles except yesterday when an augur bit lying in the road punched through my tire and rim… hardly a problem with the car. It has been in the shop twice; once for maintenance and once for a headlight unit that failed. By time I had my previous ICE vehicle for that amount of time I’d had electronic issues that had stalled the car twice, a fuel pump replaced and been through a total of 3 tires and two rims due to damage on the roads.
EV’s have far fewer critical moving parts to fail and have a surprising amount of redundancy built in. Heck, a critical failure of a motor won’t even necessarily stop most dual-motor EV’s unless it fails in a way that freezes up the drive shaft.
Amusingly, if you get a flat in a Tesla (and are in a reasonably populated area), their roadside service will just bring you a new wheel, put it on the car for you, take your rim back to the shop, mount a new tire on it, bring it back your your house, and swap the wheels in your driveway.
I have never heard of any other car maker doing that. For all the hate Tesla gets here, the mobile service vans are an incredible experience.
Just want to point out that one personal anecdotal experience isn’t really saying much though. I mean, my Mazdaspeed 3 hasn’t left me stranded once in 13 years and 115,000kms either (Yet they have a reputation for being unreliable cars)
That car was so junk I promised I would never buy another Mazda again. Absolute garbage of a car.