Warrantywise, the UK’s leading extended car warranty provider, has today revealed its analysis of long-term EV powertrain reliability – and the Nissan LEAF has come out on top.
The research was focused on three of the UK’s most recognisable plug-in models – the Tesla Model S, LEAF and BMW i3 – and looked at the frequency of repairs, common faults, cost of repair and age at the time of repair. Also evaluated was the rate of repair and the average cost of repair for similar combustion models.
Of the three models, the most reliable was the spacious and comfortable Nissan LEAF.
Widely regarded to be one of the first truly mass-market electric vehicles, just two of these pioneering family hatchbacks required repairs from all the active policies for this model.
One fix was made to a vehicle’s mirror assembly, while the other addressed an electrical fault.
Lawrence Whittaker, CEO of Warrantywise, said: “Scepticism surrounding the reliability and powertrain longevity of EV technology – particularly the ability of the batteries to consistently hold full battery charging capacity – has been a concern in the early uptake of plug-in electric vehicles.
”It is really encouraging to see that the major EV components such as the powertrain, outperform petrol and diesel counterparts after the manufacturer’s warranty expires. Overall numbers of repairs and the severity and complexity of them are encouragingly low for anyone eyeing up a second-hand EV bargain.
“Our reliability data index provides the most accurate snapshot of real-world data anywhere in the market and helps to prove that plug-in EVs can be a great used buy.”