The German motorists’ organization ADAC saw one clear trend last yearbut the figures are much better this year – and the answer is now available:
Electric cars are more reliable than cars with traditional combustion engines of the same year.
ADAC roadside assistance
- Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club
- Germany’s and Europe’s largest motorist organisation, with over 21 million members.
- The roadside assistance statistics include all models on the German market that have been sold in a number of more than 7,000 copies over two years, in the period 2014 to 2021.
That is to say – how clear it really is can still be debated. ADAC does that willingly. Read more about the uncertainties further down in this article.
The everlasting starter battery…
ADAC unsurprisingly observes the same as his colleagues in NAF:
The majority of roadside assistance situations, 44 per cent, have to do with the starter battery.
Next comes general engine trouble as an equally clear second, with 23 percent.
At the 10, 9 and 7 percent marks we find electrical problems (dynamo, lights, etc.), tires and key/immobilizer situations.
Only 20 and 21 models
But this is for all the cars in the selection, which span a total of eight years. In order to make a reasonable comparison between electric and combustion engines, ADAC has also looked at cars from 2020 and 2021 only.
Then it quickly becomes a little different:
● Starter battery failure is still the most frequent problem.
● Tires – presumably punctures – are number two.
● General engine problems are number three, and this is where the difference shows. Where electric cars have an incidence of 0.2 (2021) and 0.4 (2020) roadside assistance situations per 1,000 cars, the corresponding figures are 1.2 (2021) and 1.8 (2020) for cars with combustion engines.
● Owners of the latter car type also lock themselves out of their cars more often, but as ADAC states: These vehicles more often have physical keys.
Famous people about the joys and sorrows of car ownership:
These models do it best
ADAC’s tables is therefore broken down into models from eight years, 2014–2021, with figures for each year. They are therefore very interesting reading for used car buyers.
It is not possible to include everything, but some models stand out in a positive direction. Below follows a selection, according to ADAC’s own size classification.
Microcars: Suzuki Ignis
Small cars: BWW i3, Mazda CX-3, Suzuki Vitara.
Small Medium Size: BMW 1 Series, BMW 2 Series, BMW X1, Mitsubishi ASX, Volkswagen ID.3, Volkswagen T-Roc
Intermediate size: Audi A4, Audi A5, Audi Q5, BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLC, Skoda Enyaq, Tesla Model 3, Volkswagen ID.4
Upper middle size: BMW 5 Series, BMW X5
These disappoint
Microcars: smart forfour (2019 and older)
Small cars: Opel Meriva, Renault Clio (2020 and older), Toyota Yaris (especially the latest ones, from 2021)
Small Medium Size: Ford Kuga, Mazda3 (only the latest ones), Renault Scenic, Toyota C-HR
Intermediate size: Ford S-MAX, Opel Insignia, Toyota RAV4
Upper middle size: Many on a regular basis, but no bottom notes
The strikingly poor figures for the three Toyotas are precisely due to problems with the starter batteries.
MEN ... EN TOYOTA? Ja, RAV4 stopper tidvis." alt="" />“Too early to conclude!”
ADAC agrees with the general opinion that there should be fewer problems with electric cars, since there are fewer exposed parts.
But they are not willing to put two lines under the answer. After all, this organization is used to operating with very large numbers.
They list three points to follow further:
● Electric cars are still a relatively new phenomenon. Therefore, it is also possible that they will be much better.
● Electric cars are heavy, so it is too early to say anything about how the tires will wear.
● ADAC is also waiting to see how the electric car’s main batteries will possibly degenerate over time.
Updated April 30: In ADAC’s background material, another, potentially important point also emerges. The electric cars had traveled an average of 12,000 kilometers per year, the cars with combustion engines 20,300.
For the record: Roadside assistance due to empty tank or empty operating battery is not included in the overviews. The reason is that ADAC in this context wants to say something about the cars’ reliability, not about the owners’ possible sloppiness or bad luck.
