Huge Study Shows EVs More Reliable Than ICE Cars With One Surprising Common Issue

- ADAC found EVs break down less often than combustion cars, even with more EVs on the road.
- Surprisingly, battery issues are the leading cause of breakdowns for both EVs and ICE cars.
- Tires are the only category where electric car face more breakdowns than combustion vehicles.
The electric-versus-combustion debate isn’t just about performance or emissions anymore—it’s also about dependability. And according to Europe’s largest roadside assistance organization, the German Automobile Club (ADAC), electric cars might be quietly winning that fight.
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Its workers, sometimes known as “Yellow Angels” thanks to their bright uniforms, responded to more than 3.6 million breakdowns over the last year making this study. They recorded the details of each call, and that mountain of data shows that electric vehicles are breaking down less often than internal combustion cars.
EVs Show Fewer Breakdowns
For the first time in 2024, the ADAC said it had enough data to make a confident call on EV reliability, and that call favors electric. With another year of data behind them, the case has only grown stronger. While it responded to more EV calls for service than ever before, those accounted for just 43,678 out of the 3.6 million total or just 1.2%.
The organization pointed out in its recent study that the rise is likely due to the increased popularity of electric vehicles. In addition, the results should be more accurate since some of the EVs on the road are a year older now.
Crucially, 2024 marked the first year ADAC felt it had enough data to confidently say EVs were more reliable. With another year of records, that finding looks even stronger. “For cars first registered between 2020 and 2022, electric vehicles experienced 4.2 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles,” German outlet Handelsblatt reports. For combustion cars in the same age range, that figure was 10.4.
Common Weak Spot For ICE and EVs

Interestingly, the most common issue for both types of propulsion was the same: the 12-volt batteries. They were the issue in 50 percent of the breakdowns for EVs and 45 percent of the breakdowns for combustion cars. In almost every single category over the last few years, combustion cars have seen more or equal issues when compared to EVs, including the electrical system, engine management, and lighting.
The one area where EVs seem to have more problems is when it comes to tires. Specifically, 1.3 calls for service out of 1000 were due to an EV with tire issues, while combustion cars saw just 0.9 in the same population. It’s worth pointing out that newer EVs do not seem to suffer from the same problem.
Of course, EVs are also devoid of potential ICE issues regardless of age. They don’t have oil to replace, nor the complex propulsion system that an internal combustion engine is, and as a result, they have fewer pieces that can break.
The ADAC acknowledges the challenges with comparing EVs and ICE cars at this point. The data is limited since all-electric vehicles just haven’t been around all that long, thus we can’t know just yet how reliable they’ll all be after they’re 10+ years old. Still, this is a good indication that EVs are improving and could indeed be a more practical mode of transportation, even when we ignore their effect on sustainability. For more detailed information.




