Electric vehicles (EVs) are making progress in reliability, according to the latest findings from Consumer Reports. However, they still face significant challenges compared to traditional gas-powered cars.
The publication’s most recent automotive report card revealed EVs had 40% more reliability issues than gas-powered vehicles, narrowing the gap from last year’s 79% disparity.
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Plug-in hybrids also showed a boost in reliability, cutting their problems relative to combustion engine models from 146% to 70%.
While these results are reflective of an improvement in the dependability performance of EVs and hybrids, they still illustrate a significant difference in their overall reliability when compared to traditional vehicles.
Jake Fischer, head of Consumer Reports’ automotive test center, attributes the higher issue rates among EVs and hybrids in part to their frequent use as platforms for introducing advanced automation and experimental features. These technologies, while innovative, can be prone to glitches and may confuse drivers.
Despite these hurdles, Fischer predicts EVs and hybrids will continue to catch up with the reliability scores of gas-powered models over time as manufacturers refine their designs.
[Jack]
ELECTRIC VEHICLES ARE GETTING MORE DEPENDABLE-
THOUGH THEY ARE STILL FAR BEHIND GAS POWERED MODELS.
THAT’S ACCORDING TO CONSUMER REPORTS-
WHOSE LATEST AUTOMOTIVE REPORT CARD FOUND EVS GARNERED HIGHER RELIABILITY RATINGS THAN THEY DID A YEAR AGO.
THE PUBLICATION’S 20-23 SURVEY REPORTED EVS EXPERIENCED 79 PERCENT MORE PROBLEMS THAN THEIR COMBUSTION ENGINE COUNTERPARTS.
THIS YEAR, ELECTRIC MODELS NARROWED THAT GAP DOWN TO 40 PERCENT MORE ISSUES.
PLUG-IN HYBRIDS ALSO SAW A BOOST IN THEIR RELIABILITY RESULTS.
AFTER THEY CAUSED CONSUMERS 146 PERCENT MORE PROBLEMS THAN GAS POWERED CARS A YEAR AGO-
THAT DISPARITY HAS NOW BEEN REDUCED TO 70 PERCENT.
WHILE THIS DATA IS REFLECTIVE OF AN IMPROVEMENT-
IT STILL ILLUSTRATES A MAJOR THE DIFFERENCE IN THE RELIABILITY OF ELECTRIC AND HYBRID MODELS WHEN COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL VEHICLES.
THE HEAD OF CONSUMER REPORTS’ AUTOMOTIVE TEST CENTER JAKE FISCHER HAS A POTENTIAL EXPLANATION FOR WHY THAT IS.
HE SAYS THE ADDITIONAL ISSUES WITH EVS AND HYBRIDS MAY BE A RESULT OF AUTOMAKERS FREQUENTLY DEBUTING ADVANCED AUTOMATION AND OTHER EXPERIMENTAL FEATURES ON THESE VEHICLES.
WHICH CAN BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO GLITCHES AND SOMETIMES CREATE DRIVER CONFUSION.
HOWEVER, FISCHER EXPECTS ELECTRIC AND HYBRID MODELS WILL CONTINUE CLOSING GROUND IN TERMS OF RELIABILITY WITH GAS POWERED CARS OVER THE COMING YEARS.
TO GET MORE STORIES ABOUT ELECTRIC VEHICLES, DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP AND SIGN UP FOR ALERTS FROM ME- JACK AYLMER.
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