Tesla loses its EV quality edge as repair problems continue to plague the market

Tesla is losing its lead over legacy automakers in the quality of its new all-electric vehicles, according to an annual influential study conducted by J.D. Power.

The 2024 U.S. Initial Quality Study found the quality of Tesla's battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs, and those of traditional carmakers were the same, at 266 problems reported per 100 newly sold or leased vehicles.

Previously, Tesla models had outperformed the electric vehicles of legacy automakers in the annual survey. Last year, the Tesla received a rank of 257 problems per 100 vehicles, compared with 265 problems per 100 vehicles on average for EVs from traditional automakers.

The study attributes Tesla's growing problems to a negative response from customers after the company removed traditional feature controls, such as turn signals and wiper stalks.

Across the broader industry, not just BEVs, Tesla has consistently ranked toward the bottom in initial quality since J.D. Power began including Tesla in the study in 2022.

Overall, the study, which included repair visits data of franchised dealers for the first time, found electric vehicles such as BEVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), are plagued with more problems than traditional gas- and diesel-powered vehicles with internal combustion engines.

Automakers have typically said that EVs are generally less problematic and require fewer repairs than ICE vehicles because they have a smaller number of parts and systems. However, J.D. Power's study with newly incorporated repair data shows EVs, as well as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), require more repairs than gas-powered vehicles in all repair categories.

"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," wrote Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power, in the study.

"It is not surprising that the introduction of new technology has challenged manufacturers to maintain vehicle quality," Hanley added.