Report finds Electric Cars are Just as Reliable as Petrol Models

A study has found that electric cars in the UK now last as long as petrol cars.

The peer-reviewed study, which was published in the journal Nature Energy, found that an electric car has a lifespan of 18.4 years.

This is compared to 18.7 years for petrol cars and 16.8 years for diesel cars.

The findings were based on 300m records from compulsory annual MOT tests of roadworthiness.

Automotive engineers have long suspected electric cars will be more reliable than petrol and diesel cars because they contain fewer moving parts.

However, data has been limited because the earliest mass-market electric cars are only just reaching the end of their lives.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham, the London School of Economics, the University of California San Diego, and the University of Bern, Switzerland, used MOT data to estimate the failure rate of all cars – ignoring scrappage in the first few years, which is most likely to be related to accidents.

They found that Tesla models had the longest lifespan among electric vehicles.

They also found that all new cars increased in reliability over the years.

The most dramatic progress was seen in electric cars, with researchers attributing this to carmakers quickly learning from early missteps in battery design.

In contrast, improvements in petrol and diesel vehicles are harder to achieve, as the technology has been refined over decades.

Extending the lifespan of an electric car brings even greater environmental perks compared to its petrol counterpart.

With more wind turbines and solar panels powering the grid, the electricity used by EVs becomes cleaner each year.

Eventually, carbon dioxide emissions from their use could drop to zero if fully powered by renewable energy.

The findings may also help tackle worries about costly repairs, which have driven up insurance premiums for some electric vehicles.

Robert Elliott, a professor of economics at the University of Birmingham and one of the study’s authors, said:

“BEVs offer significant environmental benefits, especially as Europe switches to a more renewable energy mix.”

“Despite higher initial emissions from production, a long-lasting electric vehicle can quickly offset its carbon footprint, contributing to the fight against climate change – making them a more sustainable long-term option.”

Over their lifetime, electric cars on average were driven 124,000 miles.

This is higher than petrol but lower than diesel cars, which have been favoured by people who regularly cover longer distances because of fuel cost savings.

The number of electric cars sold in the UK is rising rapidly before a ban on sales of internal combustion engines in 2035; while China and Norway are leading the transition globally.