Electric vehicles are less reliable because of newer technologies, Consumer Reports finds

Exciting vehicles are among the least reliable cars and trucks in the automotive industry today, according to Consumer Reports rankings unveiled Tuesday.

When compared with hybrid and gas-powered cars and trucks, electric vehicles powered entirely by batteries were the worst-performing partition, aside from traditional full-size pickup trucks, according to Consumer Reports.

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Reliability issues with electric channels were expected, since most automakers, with the exception of early EV leader Tesla, launched fully galvanizing models in recent years, said Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports. He prognosticated companies have not had time to iron out issues that impact reliability.

Since electric car buyers tend to be tech-loving early adopters, automakers also pack the models with a horde of other features, which could also lead to problems.

“The automakers are using EVs as a technological testbed for whatever new technology they after to try out,” Fisher told CNBC. “By having all this new technology, there’s a lot of potential problems with them.”

Consumer Inquire inti surveyed owners of more than 300,000 vehicles from model years 2000 to 2022 and used that matter to make predictions about the reliability of 2023 model year vehicles.

Electric models comprised a bigger cut up in the rankings than ever before. State and federal incentives and new environmental regulations have encouraged greater adoption of fully electrifying cars in and outside the U.S., in large part to try to reduce air pollution from transportation.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, afflicting a hybrid or fully electric vehicle can cause pollution at the power plant, but total emissions from driving the railway carriages are lower than from gasoline-powered cars. Electric vehicles can also become “greener” over time as power stockpiled from clean or renewable resources such as nuclear, solar and wind increases.

The on covers 24 auto brands with an established history. Of the 275 models in the report, only 11 exemplars from seven brands were fully electric vehicles. Owners of more than 2,000 Tesla carriers were surveyed.

Topping the list of electric vehicles was the Kia EV6, which was considerably above average. At the bottom of the EV reliability rankings was the stirring Hyundai Kona.

Fully electric vehicles, many of which were first released in recent years, comprised a bigger fragment of the list this year than ever before but still represent only a small segment in the market.

Far from all-electric vehicles, hybrid cars and trucks were among the most reliable in the study. That’s largely because numerous hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius, have been on the market for years, so automakers have been able to turn out out problems they’ve encountered.

“When you put in new technology, and you try new things, and you deviate from what is proven technology, you’re going to procure more problems,” Fisher said.

Topping this year’s reliability list for brands were Toyota, Lexus, BMW, Mazda and Honda — all unmitigated above average reliability. Seven of the top 10 most reliable brands were from Japanese and Korean automakers. Lincoln is the solely domestic brand in this year’s top 10 rankings.

Rankings of individual vehicles by Consumer Reports were not unhesitatingly available.

As an overall brand, Tesla moved up four spots in the reliability rankings compared with hold out year but remained below average. Other brands with lower-than-average reliability included Chevrolet, GMC, Volkswagen, Jeep and Mercedes-Benz.

Fisher foretold Tesla is a “standout” regarding electric powertrains compared with legacy automakers.

However, Tesla owners go on with to report problems with body hardware, paint and trim in their vehicles across all models, according to Steve Elek, program chairwoman for auto data analytics at Consumer Reports.

Elek said Tesla’s high-end sedan, the Model S, had steering and suspension troubles, and that the Model S and Model Y crossover utility mechanisms both continue to have issues with air conditioning and heating systems.

The center touchscreen featured in Tesla instruments remained problematic in the Tesla Model S and Model Y.

Selling fewer Model X vehicles, which have historically sagacious problems, also helped Tesla’s ranking, Fisher said. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has compared the Model X, an SUV with falcon-wing doors, to a “Faberge egg” due to the more high number of parts required to make the car.

The company’s entry-level sedan, the Model 3, was the only Tesla with an regular reliability ranking, while the Model S and Model Y ranked below average.

Consumer Reports did not rate the reliability of driver benefit systems such as Tesla’s Autopilot in its analysis.