EVs more reliable than ICE vehicles, with the best and worst electric cars identified

A new study conducted by Europe’s largest automobile association has found that electric vehicles (EVs) are less prone to breaking down than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles of the same age, which can suffer two and a half times as many breakdowns as electric cars.

The German Automobile Club (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club, ADAC) published an analysis of its database that records all the breakdowns its “Yellow Angel” service responders attended. With each year that has passed, ADAC has been able to further expand the comparison between EVs and ICE vehicles, improving its analysis and conclusions.

Throughout 2024, ADAC’s Yellow Angels responded to 3.6 million breakdowns, with the total number of breakdowns increasing by 97 per cent, and the number of EV breakdowns increasing by 46 per cent due to the growing number of EVs on German roads.

When comparing EVs to ICE vehicles, ADAC limits its comparisons to vehicles of the same age, with 2024’s numbers providing greater confirmation.

Limiting its sample size to vehicles aged between two to four years old, ADAC found that combustion engines suffered two and a half times as many breakdowns as electric cars – working out to 9.4 ICE breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles, and 3.8 EV breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles.

ADAC’s analysis looked at a total of 159 different car models, finding that the Tesla Model 3 demonstrated the best performance among EVs two years old, with 0.5 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles.

The most susceptible EV to breakdowns was the Hyundai Ioniq 5, with 22.4 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles, with its problems blamed on its integrated charging control unit (ICCU).

The analysis also found that defective starter batteries were a common cause of breakdowns between both EVs and ICE vehicles, accounting for 44.9 per cent of all breakdowns attended by ADAC in 2024. Divided between engine type, defective 12V starter batteries were the cause of 50.5 per cent of EV breakdowns, but only 44.6 per cent of ICE vehicles.