73 Auto Research · MOT statistics
Electric car MOT statistics: how EVs compare with petrol and diesel
83.5% of MOT tests on electric cars aged 3–10 passed first time in 2023–24, against 79.6% for petrol cars of the same ages (330,180 EV tests, DVSA data). After allowing for age and mileage, electric cars failed 6% more often than comparable cars; their biggest excess was on tyres (ratio 1.58).
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT data, 2023-01-01 to 2024-12-30 (n = 330,180 tests). Download the data (CSV)
Data to 2024-12-30 · Page updated 2026-09-28 · Publisher: 73 Auto
Key findings
- DVSA data83.5% of MOT tests on electric cars aged 3–10 passed first time in 2023–24, against 79.6% for petrol cars of the same ages (DVSA data, 330,180 EV tests).
- 73 Auto analysisAllowing for age and mileage, electric cars aged 3–10 failed 6% more often than comparable cars at MOT (ratio 1.06, 73 Auto analysis of DVSA data).
- 73 Auto analysisElectric cars' highest failure ratio against comparable cars was on tyres: 1.58 times the rate for cars of the same age and mileage (73 Auto analysis).
- DVSA dataThe most common MOT failure on electric cars aged 3–10 was “Condition: has ply or cords exposed”, on 2.43% of EV tests (DVSA data, 2023–24).
- 73 Auto analysisElectric cars had a dangerous defect on 6.3% of MOTs at ages 3–10: 1.26 times the rate for cars of the same age and mileage (73 Auto analysis of 330,180 tests).
At a glance
| Figure | Value | Basis | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electric tests, ages 3–10 | 330,180 | 2023–24 | DVSA data |
| Electric first-time pass rate | 83.5% | n = 330,180 | DVSA data |
| Petrol, same ages | 79.6% | n = 19,069,451 | DVSA data |
| Electric failures vs same age and mileage | 1.06 | 1.00 = average | 73 Auto analysis |
Official data
Counts and rates taken directly from DVSA's MOT records: 73 Auto counted them, but applied no model or adjustment.
The most common electric-car MOT failures
DVSA data
Pass rate by age, electric vs others
DVSA dataFirst-time pass rate, tests in brackets.
| Age | Electric | Petrol | Diesel | Hybrid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 86.7% (170,172) | 88.4% (2,212,200) | 83.5% (1,095,176) | 89.1% (374,292) |
| 4 years | 84.5% (72,438) | 86.4% (2,722,029) | 82.9% (1,528,072) | 87.7% (278,784) |
| 5 years | 81.9% (28,166) | 84.0% (2,663,768) | 81.3% (1,858,119) | 86.1% (235,269) |
| 6 years | 79.4% (17,526) | 81.2% (2,514,221) | 79.0% (2,313,812) | 84.4% (188,801) |
| 7 years | 74.9% (14,013) | 78.3% (2,458,842) | 76.2% (2,639,873) | 83.0% (147,214) |
| 8 years | 70.5% (13,381) | 75.1% (2,364,300) | 72.9% (2,639,770) | 81.0% (114,207) |
| 9 years | — | 71.4% (2,170,322) | 69.5% (2,423,929) | 79.5% (82,922) |
| 10 years | — | 68.2% (1,963,769) | 66.5% (2,128,493) | 78.3% (52,461) |
| 11 years | — | 65.6% (1,748,808) | 63.7% (1,848,015) | 76.1% (33,932) |
| 12 years | — | 63.0% (1,653,503) | 61.4% (1,657,743) | 72.0% (23,940) |
| 13 years | — | 60.6% (1,717,706) | 59.2% (1,422,204) | 70.5% (19,869) |
| 14 years | — | 58.6% (1,620,205) | 57.9% (1,155,652) | 71.3% (12,657) |
| 15 years | — | 57.1% (1,460,840) | 57.2% (1,026,456) | 69.4% (13,589) |
73 Auto analysis
Figures 73 Auto derived from the same records: adjusted ratios, intervals and rankings, explained in the method below.
Electric vs other fuels, ages 3–10
73 Auto analysisCounts and pass rates are DVSA data; the ratio is 73 Auto analysis.
| Fuel | Tests | Median miles | First-time pass | Failures vs same age and mileage | Dangerous defect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electric | 330,180 | 33,577 | 83.5% | 1.06 | 6.3% |
| Petrol | 19,069,451 | 40,963 | 79.6% | 1.05 | 5.9% |
| Diesel | 16,627,244 | 68,817 | 75.5% | 0.98 | 7.7% |
| Hybrid | 1,473,950 | 46,622 | 85.6% | 0.74 | 4.4% |
Where electric cars fail
73 Auto analysis
| Area | Electric: share of tests | Petrol: share of tests | Electric vs same age and mileage | Petrol vs same age and mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 8.05% | 5.57% | 1.58 | 1.02 |
| Suspension | 2.88% | 4.44% | 1.50 | 1.07 |
| Steering | 0.41% | 1.00% | 1.06 | 1.16 |
| Road wheels | 0.20% | 0.22% | 1.02 | 0.94 |
| Lights, reflectors and electrical | 3.60% | 6.07% | 0.90 | 1.09 |
| Driver's view of the road | 2.91% | 3.84% | 0.84 | 1.07 |
| Seat belts and airbags | 0.29% | 0.39% | 0.80 | 0.97 |
| Brakes | 1.80% | 3.97% | 0.64 | 1.05 |
| Body, chassis and structure | 0.38% | 1.24% | 0.60 | 1.00 |
Method
Source: DVSA's anonymised MOT tests and results for 2023-01-01 to 2024-12-30, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. 73 Auto counted every record itself; no figure is taken from a secondary report.
Scope: class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans), normal tests only (retests excluded), vehicles at least 2.5 years old at test, whose make matches 73 Auto's vehicle catalogue: 65,477,892 tests in 2023–24.
First-time pass rate: the share of normal tests with the result Pass. A test where a defect was fixed at the station and the car passed the same day (PRS, pass after rectification) counts as an initial fail, as DVSA counts it.
Failure areas and items: a test counts once for an area or item if it had at least one fail-level (Major or Dangerous, or pre-2018 fail) defect in it, however many locations were affected. Advisories and minor defects are not failures.
Electric means DVSA fuel type 'electricity'; plug-in and self-charging hybrids are 'hybrid'. The comparison is limited to ages 3–10, which covers almost every electric car old enough for an MOT.
Standardisation uses age and mileage band only (fuel is what is compared).
Publication test: At least 100,000 electric-car tests at ages 3–10. Electric tests aged 3–10: 330,180 (minimum 100,000).
Limitations
The electric fleet at MOT age is dominated by a handful of early models (Nissan Leaf, Tesla, Renault Zoe, BMW i3 and a few others), so these figures describe those cars more than today's EVs.
Electric cars' higher tyre wear is partly weight and torque and partly how they are driven; the data cannot separate the two.
An MOT result records a car's condition on test day. Servicing, owners' habits, annual mileage and where the car is driven all affect it, so a low failure rate is not proof of mechanical reliability or build quality.
Citing this study
Cite as: 73 Auto, “Electric car MOT statistics: how EVs compare with petrol and diesel”, 2026-09-28, https://73auto.com/research/electric-car-mot-statistics. Based on DVSA anonymised MOT tests and results, Open Government Licence v3.0. The data behind every table is free to reuse with attribution.
More MOT studies
- UK MOT statistics 2023–24 · 28.5% of UK MOT tests in 2023–24 did not pass first time: 18,656,905 of 65,477,892 tests (DVSA data).
- Which car makes fail the MOT most? A ranking adjusted for age and mileage · Of the 21 car makes with over a million MOT tests in 2023–24, BMW cars failed 24% less often than comparable cars of the same age, mileage and fuel (73 Auto analysis of 3,694,719 DVSA tests).
- The cars that fail the MOT least and most, class by class · Of 190 models with 20,000+ MOT tests, the BMW M3 had the lowest failure ratio against cars of the same age, mileage and fuel (0.41, 31,544 tests, 2023–24).
- How MOT pass rates fall with age and mileage · 87.1% of 3-year-old cars passed their first MOT first time in 2023–24, against 67.5% of 10-year-old cars (DVSA data, 3,907,416 and 4,163,623 tests).
- The most common reasons cars fail the MOT · The most common reason for failing an MOT in 2023–24 was “Position lamp: not working”, found on 2.6% of all tests (1,684,901 tests, DVSA data).
- Which MOT failures rise most as cars get older · Steering failures rise the most with age: 0.13% of MOT tests on 3-year-old cars against 3.4% at 15 years, 26 times as often (DVSA data, 2023–24).
- MOT failure rates by test area: brakes, tyres, lights and more compared · Lights, reflectors and electrical is the MOT area cars fail on most: 11.2% of all tests and 39.1% of failed tests (2023–24, DVSA data).
- Dangerous MOT defects: how many cars have them and what they are · 5,141,819 MOT tests in 2023–24 found at least one dangerous defect: 7.9% of all tests, about 1 in 13 (DVSA data).
- Petrol vs diesel vs hybrid: MOT pass rates compared · At ages 3–10, 85.6% of hybrid MOT tests passed first time, against 79.6% for petrol and 75.5% for diesel (DVSA data, 2023–24).
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Where these figures come from
- Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023 and 2024 — Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). Open Government Licence v3.0.
Figures labelled as 73 Auto estimates are our own analysis of these sources, set out in the methodology and data sources. To report a factual error, see corrections.