Reading an EV Reliability Score the Right Way (J.D. Power, Consumer Reports)

“EVs are less reliable than gas cars” is a real, currently-accurate finding from two of the most credible sources tracking it. It’s also a finding that’s easy to misread if you don’t know what these studies actually measure. Here’s how each one works and what the EV-specific gap is really made of.

How J.D. Power’s Vehicle Dependability Study works

J.D. Power’s annual Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) surveys original owners of three-year-old vehicles, in the 2026 study, that’s owners of 2023 model-year vehicles, about problems they’ve experienced. The 2026 study drew on responses from over 33,000 owners and scores vehicles across 184 specific problem areas grouped into nine categories: climate, driving assistance, driving experience, exterior, features/controls/displays, infotainment, interior, powertrain, and seats. Results are reported as problems per 100 vehicles (PP100); lower is better.

The 2026 results by powertrain type: gas-only vehicles came in best at 198 PP100, traditional hybrids at 213, battery-electric vehicles at 237, and plug-in hybrids worst at 281. Notably, infotainment was the single largest problem category across the entire study, at 56.7 PP100, more than double the next-largest category (exterior, at 27.5 PP100). Within infotainment, phone-integration issues (Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity) alone accounted for 8.9 PP100 and were, per J.D. Power, the single most common complaint in the industry for a third consecutive year, across all powertrain types, not just EVs.

How Consumer Reports’ reliability ratings work

Consumer Reports runs a different kind of survey: it polls its own members (roughly 380,000 vehicles’ worth of responses in its most recent survey cycle, spanning model years 2000 through 2025) and asks owners to report any problems that occurred in the past 12 months, across 17 trouble areas. Unlike J.D. Power’s single three-year-old snapshot, CR blends data across many model years and vehicle ages to produce a predicted reliability score for each model, which is why CR’s ratings can move even for a vehicle that hasn’t changed generation.

On EVs specifically, CR’s most recent survey found EVs and plug-in hybrids combined have roughly 80% more reported problems on average than gas-only cars, consistent with a similar gap CR found in its 2024 survey. CR attributes the gap to a mix of factors: newer vehicle platforms tend to have more issues regardless of powertrain, several EV-focused brands are relatively new automakers still maturing their manufacturing and software, and EV-specific systems (charging hardware, battery software, climate systems that rely on heat pumps instead of engine waste heat) are simply newer technology with less time to get the bugs out. CR pointed specifically to charging-related hardware issues, like Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU) failures reported in some Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis EVs, as a real and disruptive category of complaint, distinct from the touchscreen and connectivity issues driving J.D. Power’s infotainment numbers.

The caveat that matters most: what “reliability” is actually counting

Both organizations count a dead touchscreen, a CarPlay dropout, or an over-the-air update that misbehaves as a “problem,” the same as a failed motor or a battery that won’t hold a charge. That’s a reasonable thing to track since it affects ownership experience, but it means a car’s aggregate reliability score can look worse for reasons that have nothing to do with whether it’s mechanically dependable or safe to drive. J.D. Power’s own data illustrates this directly: infotainment, the single biggest problem category industry-wide, is overwhelmingly a software and connectivity issue, not a hardware failure, and it affects gas cars too, just less severely.

For EVs specifically, that distinction matters even more, because “powertrain” for an EV includes the charging system and battery management software in a way it doesn’t for a gas car’s engine. A charging-hardware fault or a software glitch that limits charge speed shows up in the same “powertrain” or “EV battery/charging system” bucket that a genuinely serious drivetrain failure would, even though the practical impact and repair cost are very different. When you see an EV model flagged for “battery and charging system” issues, it’s worth checking whether reporting describes actual battery degradation or cell failure (rare) versus a charging-control-unit or software fault (more common and generally far less costly to fix).

The trend is improving, not static

Both organizations frame the EV reliability gap as a new-technology adoption pattern rather than a structural flaw: “many of the problems with EVs and plug-in hybrids are because they are newer designs compared to gas technology, so some kinks still continue to be worked out,” as Consumer Reports has put it. That mirrors how gas-car reliability itself improved over decades as manufacturers refined established designs. It also isn’t purely theoretical: Tesla’s Model Y broke into Consumer Reports’ top-10 reliability list only after roughly two decades of Tesla being on the market, a timeline CR compares to Hyundai’s own multi-decade climb into top reliability rankings after a rocky start. Individual EV models already outperform the category average considerably: CR’s most recent survey put the Tesla Model Y as its most reliable EV, with the BMW i4 and i5 also scoring well above the EV-category norm, while other models (several Hyundai/Kia/Genesis EVs, the Chevrolet Blazer EV, Cadillac Lyriq, and Honda Prologue) dragged the category average down.

How to actually use one of these scores as a shopper

Don’t stop at the single aggregate number or star rating. Look at what specific categories are driving a low score for the model you’re considering: infotainment and software complaints are annoying but rarely leave you stranded, while a pattern of charging-system or motor/battery complaints is worth taking more seriously. Compare within the EV category, not just against gas cars broadly, since the spread between the best and worst EV models is currently large. And remember both organizations’ scores describe an average ownership experience for a specific model year; a car’s reliability standing can shift meaningfully from one model year to the next, especially for newer EV nameplates still in their first few years of production, so check the specific model year you’re actually buying rather than assuming a nameplate’s reputation is fixed.

Sources

• J.D. Power — 2026 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS)
• CarPro — J.D. Power 2026 Vehicle Dependability Study Results
• Consumer Reports — Hybrids Are Still the Most Reliable Cars, CR Survey Shows
• Motor1 — Electric Cars Are Way Less Reliable Than ICE Cars, Says Consumer Reports
• BGR — 12 of the Least Reliable EVs for 2026 According to Consumer Reports

Reliability studies are published on an annual cycle and figures shift year to year; treat the specific PP100 and percentage figures here as reflective of the most recently published study cycle at the time of writing, not a permanent ranking. For what EV maintenance actually involves day to day, separate from these owner-survey “problem” counts, see our EV maintenance guide.