ADAC Breakdown Statistics: E-Cars Are More Reliable - Tesla Once Again on Top
Electric cars generally operate more reliably than combustion engines. This was determined by the automobile club ADAC in its latest statistics, which, thanks to an expanded data base, can break down the numbers more comprehensively than before. In total, the ADAC recorded more than 3.6 million operations by the "Yellow Angels" in 2024, a further increase from 2023. The number of breakdowns among electric cars rose by 46 percent due to the growing number of electric vehicles, although not to the extent of the growth in the fleet (97 percent). With the strong increase in electric cars on the roads, the data situation in the ADAC breakdown statistics improves. It shows that electric vehicles are less prone to breakdowns than combustion engines of the same age groups. Among vehicles two to four years old, combustion engines suffer two and a half times as many breakdowns as electric cars. The breakdown figure for combustion engines in the breakdown year 2024 was 9.4 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles, while for electric cars it was only 3.8.
The current breakdown statistics for 2025 analyze the breakdown data of a total of 159 model series and offer a detailed evaluation of the most reliable and most vulnerable vehicle models of all drive types. Particularly prone to breakdowns were several models from Toyota, which were otherwise rather classified as reliable in the past. The model with the highest breakdown index is the Toyota C-HR with the first registration year 2020, with 63.1 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles. But other Toyota models also show weaknesses in terms of reliability (Toyota RAV4, Yaris, and Yaris Cross). Problems with the starter battery were often the cause. Toyota has already responded and introduced new, more powerful batteries.
Among combustion engines Mini leads, among electric cars Tesla Model 3
In the current evaluation, among the two-year-old vehicles, the two combustion engines MINI (0.3) and Audi A4 (0.4) performed best. The best electric car was the Tesla Model 3 (0.5). Overall, twelve models had a breakdown index of less than 1. Negatively, aside from the Toyota models (Yaris Cross 40.0; Yaris 29.2; C-HR 16.4; RAV4 18.4), an electric car also stood out – the high breakdown susceptibility of the Hyundai IONIQ 5 (22.4) is due to problems with the integrated charging control unit (ICCU), which also led to a recall by the Federal Motor Transport Authority.
As in previous years, the defective starter battery was the main cause of breakdowns. 44.9 percent of all breakdowns in 2024 were attributed to it. When distinguishing between types of propulsion, combustion engines prove to be more susceptible regarding the 12V battery. Although in electric cars the percentage share of the starter battery in the breakdown occurrence is higher at 50.5% than in combustion engines (44.6%), the breakdown figure for two to four-year-old vehicles is 2.3 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles higher for combustion engines (4.0) compared to electric vehicles (1.7). The reason for this is the generally lower breakdown susceptibility of electric cars coupled with a lower occurrence of other component breakdowns.
