Are electric vehicles really expensive and unreliable?

The credibility of EVs has taken a battering recently, taking the gloss off the utopian ownership experience that manufacturers and governments are keen to push.

First came the Which? Annual Car Survey that found not only that electric vehicles (EVs) break down more often but they also spend more time being fixed. Comparing vehicles aged up to four years, it found that 31% of EVs experienced issues, compared to fewer than 20% of petrol vehicles, which took 40% less time to repair. Interestingly, Tesla was found to be the least reliable Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), while Kia's e-NERO was the most dependable.

Is this fair, though? Diving into the statistics reveals most issues not to be mechanical but related to the software. Furthermore, another type of EV, the high-voltage self-charging Hybrid that permits electric-only propulsion under certain conditions, topped the reliability survey.

Yet, as most EVs are bought by businesses, the fleet management company, Total Motion's findings do not make for easy reading. After analysing over 2,500 EVs over four-and-a-half years, it found that the cost of an EV break down is 2.7 times more than conventional combustion-engined vehicles.

It also found that certain repairs were far more expensive. For instance, an EV windscreen cost six times higher than a conventional vehicle. Total Motion states this is down to the different technologies, such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) being used. However, ADAS is also used in conventional cars, so why should this make a difference? Perhaps a more relevant reason is down to repairs having to be conducted by technicians that have received suitable training in high-voltage vehicles. If this is the case, it is likely that this disparity will reduce, as more garages become familiar with EVs.

The company found that insurance for EVs was around 19% higher, too. Yet, it is not all bad news. Total Motion found that electric vehicle maintenance costs are almost 30% lower than petrol and diesel vehicles.

Interestingly, the company concludes that the transition to EV vehicles within business fleets is being carried out far too early, which is presenting cost and operational implications.

With this in mind, it is interesting to note that Suzuki GB, a company that does not have a large fleet presence and sells cars mainly to private buyers, reckons that its customers are as many as two car changes away from driving a full-electric EV.

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