Common Problems with Electric Cars (and How to Avoid Them)

The common problems with electric cars are the same small faults petrol cars get: a flat 12-volt battery, software and infotainment glitches, and worn tyres. The battery pack and motor rarely fail, and the data shows packs lose about 2.3% of their capacity a year.

That does not mean electric cars are trouble free. Some models score far worse than others in owner surveys, tyres wear faster under the extra weight, and brakes that are hardly used can corrode. Below is what the UK data says goes wrong, and what you can do about each problem before and after you buy.

What is the biggest problem with electric cars?

The biggest single problem is the small 12-volt battery that runs the locks, screens and control units, not the big battery that drives the car. What Car?’s 2026 Reliability Survey, which drew 29,967 responses, says the most common faults on electric models “aren’t related to their electric motors or EV battery packs”, and are mostly 12-volt batteries and other electrical niggles that also affect hybrid and petrol versions of the same or similar models. The fault areas it lists for individual models include sat-nav and infotainment, non-motor electrics and bodywork.

Which? found the same pattern in its survey of 4,762 owners, published in March 2025. Onboard computer software was the most frequent fault on new electric cars, while older cars more often had suspension problems. Main battery faults made up 2% of faults on new cars.

Problem	What the UK data says	How to avoid it
12-volt battery and electrics	Most common EV fault area in What Car?’s 2026 survey	Drive the car regularly; ask for a 12-volt test at each service
Software glitches	Most frequent fault on new EVs in Which?’s survey	Install updates; check for open recalls on gov.uk
Tyre wear	About 1.8 times the tyre defects of petrol cars (BVRLA, 2026)	Correct pressures, load-rated tyres, check tread monthly
Battery degradation	2.3% a year on average (Geotab, 2026)	Limit frequent high-power rapid charging where you can
Corroded brakes	Friction brakes used less because of regenerative braking	Use the brakes more on salted roads; use a disc cleaning mode if fitted
Suspension	Most common fault on older EVs in Which?’s survey	Inspect bushes and links on any used purchase

Do EVs break down a lot?

Electric cars break down for much the same reasons as petrol and diesel cars, and running out of charge is rare. The AA says tyres and the 12-volt battery are the two leading causes of breakdowns for both types. Of the 13,000 or so electric car breakdowns it attended in 2020, just under 4% were cars that had run out of charge.

The 12-volt battery loses charge when a car sits unused, because the lights, ventilation and audio keep drawing on it; Toyota’s UK guidance notes it is only recharged when the car is switched on in Ready mode, so regular use is the simplest prevention. If an electric car does need recovering, Which? notes it should not be towed like a petrol car, as that can damage the motor, so make sure your breakdown cover handles electric cars.

How reliable are electric cars now?

On average, electric cars score well in owner surveys and are improving. The 19 electric models in What Car?’s 2026 main electric car chart averaged 90.4%, up from 87.7% the year before. The spread between models is wide, though. The BMW i4 scored 96.8%, while the Hyundai Ioniq 5 scored 80.7% and the Porsche Taycan 81.2%, the lowest of the current models in that chart.

MOT data shows electric cars holding up well over high mileages. The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association analysed 47.4 million MOT tests, as reported by Auto Express in September 2026. Above 120,000 miles, electric cars failed 16% of the time against 23.5% for petrol cars.

Why do electric cars wear tyres faster?

Electric cars are heavier than their petrol equivalents, about 25% heavier on average according to the IMI, and their instant torque may wear tyres faster, which puts more load through the tyres. The BVRLA analysis found electric cars carry about 1.8 times as many tyre defects at the MOT as petrol cars. An earlier IMI analysis of Department for Transport data, reported by The Telegraph in July 2023, found 46% of MOT failures on electric cars registered between 2015 and 2018 were for tyres, against 32% for petrol cars.

To avoid it, keep pressures at the figure on the door pillar, replace tyres with ones that match or exceed the original load rating, and check tread depth every month rather than waiting for the MOT.

Do electric car brakes need replacing less often?

The bigger brake issue on an electric car is corrosion rather than wear: regenerative braking does much of the slowing down, so the friction discs are used less and can rust, particularly over a wet, salted UK winter. Kia’s EV6 manual includes a brake disc cleaning mode for exactly this reason, which switches off regenerative braking so the friction brakes can clean surface rust from the discs, and it advises using the brakes more often, when safe, on roads treated with de-icing chemicals. If your car has no such mode, ask the garage to check the discs at each service.

How fast do electric car batteries degrade?

Battery degradation is slower than most buyers expect. Geotab, a vehicle telematics company, analysed more than 22,700 electric cars across 21 models and found an average loss of 2.3% of capacity a year, projecting 81.6% of the original capacity after eight years.

How you charge makes the biggest difference. Cars that rarely used DC rapid chargers lost 1.5% a year, while cars that rapid charged often, with more than 40% of those sessions above 100 kW, lost 3.0% a year. Cars in hot climates degraded 0.4% a year faster than those in mild ones. Geotab also found that strictly keeping the battery between 20% and 80% is unnecessary for normal daily use; degradation only sped up when a car spent more than 80% of its time at very high or very low charge.

Which?’s owner survey backs this up: 96% of owners of 2017 and 2018 electric cars said their battery still gave more than 80% of its original range.

Worked example: battery health and running costs on a Range Rover Electric

The Range Rover Electric shows what these figures mean on a real car. The EV550 Autobiography SWB costs £154,070 in November 2026, with a 118.5 kWh usable battery, a 372-mile WLTP range and a battery warranty of 8 years or 100,000 miles, according to JLR.

Applying Geotab’s eight-year projections to the 372-mile WLTP figure gives EV Compared’s estimate of range left after eight years:

Charging pattern (Geotab)	Battery health after 8 years	WLTP range left
Rarely rapid charged	88%	327 miles
Average of all cars	81.6%	304 miles
Frequent high-power rapid charging	76%	283 miles

Charging habits change the running costs as much as the battery health. We work out efficiency as WLTP miles divided by usable kWh, then price it at 6.5p/kWh on Intelligent Octopus Go and 82p/kWh at a public rapid charger, ignoring charging losses (our methodology). That gives 2.1p a mile at home against 26.1p a mile on rapid chargers, or £166 against £2,090 for 8,000 miles. The same habit that saves money, charging at home overnight rather than on rapid chargers, is the one linked to the slowest degradation. If you are fitting a charger for that, compare home chargers and installers on Best Chargers.

The Range Rover also illustrates how makers now manage software faults: JLR says it receives software updates over the air and has a “Battery Digital Twin” that monitors more than 900 diagnostic data points.

Are charging problems a reliability issue?

Some of what owners call problems with electric cars are really problems with public chargers: broken units, payment apps that fail and queues. Which? found charging issues made up 2% of faults on newer cars and 3% on older ones, so the car’s own charging hardware is rarely the cause. Having more networks to choose from helps, and many drivers can now use Tesla Superchargers with a non-Tesla car at the sites that are open to all.

Are newer EV brands more of a risk?

Not necessarily, but they have less owner data behind them, so you are relying more on the warranty and the dealer network. Several brands have only been selling electric cars in the UK for a few years, which is not long enough to show up in long-term reliability surveys or high-mileage MOT data.

If you are looking at XPeng’s UK range, ask how far your nearest service point is and how long parts take to arrive. Which? notes that parts can be harder to get while a new model is launching, as makers put production first.

The same question applies to Leapmotor’s cars: find out whether servicing is through a dedicated dealer or a partner’s workshop. The IMI told Which? that only one in five UK car technicians is trained to work on electric cars.

With Deepal and Changan models, read the warranty terms for the battery and for the rest of the car separately, as the two can differ in length and mileage.

Owners of GWM’s Ora models and other recent arrivals should keep every software update record, since software is the most common fault area on new electric cars.

Chery’s UK line-up is plug-in hybrid rather than fully electric, so its engines and gearboxes bring the usual petrol servicing needs alongside the electric parts.

Is it worth buying a second-hand electric car?

Yes, for most buyers, as long as you check three things first. Ask for a battery health report from the dealer or the maker’s app, and walk away if the seller cannot provide one. Check the registration on the gov.uk vehicle recall service, since a recalled car is fixed or replaced by the manufacturer and you will not usually have to pay. Then look closely at the tyres, brake discs and suspension, the parts flagged above.

Know your rights, too. Which? explains that you can reject a faulty car for a full refund within 30 days of buying from a dealer, and are entitled to a repair or replacement up to six months; after that, you have to show the fault is not normal wear and tear.

What it means for choosing a car

Problems with electric cars are real but smaller than the worries about them. Battery failure and running out of charge are rare; 12-volt batteries, software, tyres and brakes cause most of the trouble, and you can manage all four.

An electric car suits you best if you can charge at home, which keeps both the running costs and the battery wear down. It suits you less if you would rely on rapid chargers for most of your miles, or if you are buying a model with a poor survey record and no nearby specialist. Pick a model that scores well in owner surveys, check its warranty length, and look after the tyres.