National market share for electric cars climbed to 4.9 percent from January to September this year, up from 2.4 percent in the same 2021 period, Edmunds said. And 36 percent of respondents told a Consumer Reports (CU) survey earlier this year that they will buy or lease a battery-only car, or at least seriously consider one.
So the EV momentum is continuing, but are the people buying them having a good experience? A new CU survey November 15 identifies hybrid cars as the top-rated reliability category, and says that EVs (one from the bottom in the vehicle-type ratings) have had some “growing pains”—though not from the drivetrains themselves. The cutting-edge electronic aids on board are a big part of the problem. Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at CU, told Autoweek, “EVs in general are not very reliable. Right now, there are two EV markets—Tesla and everyone else.”
The survey says that Tesla, by far the EV market leader, “continues to have issues with body hardware, steering/suspension, paint and trim, and climate systems on its models, but the electric powertrains have very few problems.” Tesla went up four places in the brand rankings, but the Model 3 has only average reliability, and the S, Y and X are below average. Beyond Tesla, of 11 EVs tested, only four had average or better predicted reliability. A standout was the Kia EV6, with “outstanding” reliability.
Fisher noted that by now Tesla has a lot of experience putting electric motors and batteries into cars, which helped that aspect of reliability. “EVs are selling to early adopters, who want all the new technology on the cars,” he said. “Hybrids are being bought by the more practical people, and they’re proving to be a sweet spot in the market. For instance, the Ford Maverick hybrid was more reliable than the non-hybrid version. That’s in part because its drivetrain was worked out in the Ford Escape hybrid. But the Ford F-150 hybrid has had more problems.”
Source:https://www.autoweek.com/news/a41968318/electric-vehicles-reliability-survey-results/
