EVs Get More Dependable, PHEVs Less So

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Last Updated on: 7th March 2025, 01:08 pm

One thing electric vehicle proponents have long argued is that, due to EVs requiring many fewer parts, they should need service much less, be more reliable, and cost less to maintain. A new study from J.D. Power, the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study^SM (VDS), surprisingly, finds full electrics (BEVs) are not the most dependable vehicles. However, there may be an important asterisk here, and there are some good trends to report.

Overall, the study found that the type of vehicle with the least problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) is the conventional hybrid (199 PP100). Right on its tail is a conventional gas-powered car (200 PP100). And then BEVs are in third (223 PP100), diesel-powered vehicles in 4th (233 PP100), and PHEVs are last, in 5th (242 PP100).

The asterisk I’m going to throw in here doesn’t come from J.D. Power. The study examines vehicles that are three years old. Many BEV models were brand new a few years ago, and brand new models are known to have more issues. They get worked out over time and product reliability improves. Related, Tesla vehicles have been known to have reliability issues for years — due to a kind of Silicon Valley “rush things out the door” approach. That has reportedly improved over time, but Tesla still stands out as one of the less reliable auto brands, and it dominates US EV sales.

The good news is that BEVs have been getting more dependable, according to the study. Unfortunately, PHEVs have been getting less dependable. “BEVs have improved 33 PP100 year over year, while PHEVs have declined 26 PP100,” J.D. Power writes. “The gap between gas-powered vehicles and BEVs has narrowed significantly this year.” That is also the case because as BEVs got more dependable in the past year, gas-powered cars got less dependable — significantly less dependable. “Compared with 2024 results, the industry experiences a 6% increase in problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), which is 12 PP100 worse than a year ago, resulting in an industry average of 202 PP100. The rise in problems is attributable to mass market brands experiencing a 16 PP100 increase related in part to software defects. A lower score indicates higher vehicle quality.”

That matter of software defects is an interesting one, especially if we bring Tesla back into it. Tesla somewhat routinely has “recalls” come up that only involve a simple software update, which is practically automated. This is not an inconvenience for owners. So, if these are being included in the dependability study, that’s a bit misleading. In my humble opinion, anything that simply requires an over-the-air software update should not be included in the same analysis as something that requires an owner bring their car into a dealer or mechanic for a physical fix.

As a final note, J.D. Power points out that the cars studied for this were produced shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic (and Russian invasion of Ukraine), and there were significant supply chains disruptions and production challenges still at that time. “While the increase in problems this year may be a thorn in the side of automakers and owners, it’s important to remember that today’s three-year-old vehicles were built during a time when the industry was grappling with major disruptions,” said Jason Norton, director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power. “Supply chain issues, record-high vehicle prices, and personnel disruption in the wake of the pandemic were problematic.” So, perhaps it’s best to wait another year or two before giving this kind of dependability ranking much attention — unless you’re planning to buy a 2022 model-year car.