Typically, electric vehicles — likely owing in part to their new tech — have more problems than gas-powered cars. But while Tesla had performed better than the electric cars produced by traditional manufacturers, its quality this year has gotten worse, so now Teslas and EVs from traditional companies are performing equally poorly.
This year Tesla had 266 problems per 100 vehicles, according to J.D. Power’s 2024 Initial Quality Study, released this week. That’s up from 242 per 100 last year. The consumer data company blames Tesla’s decline on the removal of traditional controls like turn signals and wiper stalks, which have aggravated consumers.
The study average was 195.
“Owners of cutting edge, tech-filled BEVs and PHEVs are experiencing problems that are of a severity level high enough for them to take their new vehicle into the dealership at a rate three times higher than that of gas-powered vehicle owners,” Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power, said in a statement.
Tesla has issued eight recalls already this year, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data, including four for its Cybertruck.
But hey, at least it’s not Dodge. The Stellantis brand was at the bottom of the list with more than 300 problems per hundred vehicles (Stellantis’ truck brand Ram was at the top, with just 149 problems per 100).
