ADAC, Europe’s largest automobile organisation, has revealed that electric vehicles have fewer breakdowns compared to internal combustion engine vehicles with a report prepared by examining 3.6 million breakdown records for 2024.
Electric vehicles fail less
As a result of the detailed analysis of the failures intervened by ADAC personnel throughout the year, the failure rate per 1,000 vehicles in internal combustion vehicles was recorded as 9.4. In electric vehicles evaluated with the same criteria, this rate was calculated as 3.8.
Based on four-year-old vehicles, the failure rate in electric cars was 8.5, while this rate increased to 12.9 in internal combustion vehicles. This data shows that electric vehicles break down one third less than internal combustion models in the same age group.
The most common problem in both vehicle types was 12-volt auxiliary battery failures. While 50 per cent of the failures in electric vehicles were concentrated in this part, the rate was determined as 45 per cent in internal combustion engines.
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Electric vehicles seem to be more disadvantageous with a slight difference in tyre-related road failures. While 1.3 out of 1,000 electric vehicles were stranded for this reason, the rate was measured as 0.9 in internal combustion vehicles.
The Tesla Model 3 stood out among the least malfunctioning models in the research. This 2023 model year vehicle topped the list with only 0.5 failure rate. It was followed by VW ID.3 with a failure rate of 0.7. Tesla Model Y similarly ranked high with a rate of 0.9.
Structural differences lie behind the lesser failure of electric vehicles. These vehicles contain fewer parts because they do not have internal combustion systems such as engine oil, exhaust system, clutch. They also cause fewer mechanical problems thanks to the simpler transmission system.
ADAC emphasises that there is not enough data yet on how electric vehicles will perform in 10 years or more of use. So what do you think about this issue? You can share your opinions with us in the comments section below.
