Motor: New Research Suggests Tesla Might be The Most Unreliable EV Brand

There again Tesla had something of a head start in the UK alongside the Nissan Leaf, so they are older vehicles. Anyway, here’s some data from Motoreasy;

With the Budget small print confirming that electric car drivers will start paying a new pay-per-mile charge from April 2028, anyone buying an EV needs to look at the bigger picture and weigh up the full cost of ownership, not just the price tag. To help, vehicle ownership expert MotorEasy has revealed the EVs with the lowest scores in its Reliability Index, the models most likely to land owners with costly repair bills.

The Tesla Model X has the lowest score of any EV in the index, at just 1 out of 10. Its stablemate the Model S (1.4) and the Porsche Taycan (2.6) complete the bottom three. Tesla has three models in the bottom ten, with the Model 3 also featuring (6.6).

The MotorEasy Reliability Index is based on real-world claims data from MotorEasy customers, scoring each make and model out of 10 on how often it needs repairs and how much those repairs cost. It now also ranks vehicles by fuel type, so drivers can compare electric, hybrid, petrol and diesel models side by side, rather than just by make and model.

The 10 least reliable electric models

Source: MotorEasy Reliability Index. Lower scores indicate lower reliability.

Not all bad news for EV drivers

Even the tenth lowest-scoring electric car in the index, the Peugeot e-208, scores 7.3 out of 10, and four of the bottom ten score 7 or more. Several of the models on the list, including the BMW i3, Jaguar I-Pace and original Audi e-tron, are no longer on sale new, but they remain popular choices in the used EV market.

Budget puts EV running costs in the spotlight

Tucked away in the Budget documents rather than the Chancellor’s speech, the Government confirmed that Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED), a new pay-per-mile charge for electric and plug-in hybrid cars, will be introduced from April 2028. At the previously announced rate of 3p a mile for electric cars, a driver covering 8,000 miles a year would pay around £240, on top of their annual road tax. The Government also said drivers will have a mileage estimation tool and the option to report their mileage automatically through their car’s connected technology.

Duncan McClure Fisher, Founder and CEO of MotorEasy, said: “Drivers rightly focus on the price of a car, the cost of charging and, from 2028, the cost of tax per mile. But repair bills can make just as big a difference to what an electric car really costs to run, especially once it is out of the manufacturer’s warranty.

“Our data shows there is a big gap between the best and worst and some premium models have proved costly to keep on the road. Now that our Reliability Index ranks cars by fuel type, anyone thinking about switching to electric, particularly on the used market, can see exactly how the models they are considering compare.”

MotorEasy’s tips for EV buyers

• Check the reliability score of the specific model, not just the brand, using the MotorEasy Reliability Index.
• Ask for a battery health report. The battery is the most expensive component of an electric car, so make sure you know its condition.
• Check how much of the manufacturer’s warranty remains, including any separate battery warranty, which is often longer than the main vehicle warranty.
• Look for a full service history, including any software updates and recall work.
• Budget for repairs once the warranty ends or consider extended warranty cover.
• Factor in all the running costs, including pay-per-mile tax from April 2028 and where you will charge, as charging at home is usually cheaper than using public chargers.