Hybrids Outdistance EVs, Others in Reliability Ranking

Hybrid cars with combined gasoline and electric propulsion systems rank collectively as the most dependable vehicles in the Consumer Reports 2022 Auto Brand Reliability Report.

In contrast, fully electric vehicles “are among the least reliable,” Jake Fisher, CR’s senior director-automotive testing, tells the Detroit-based Automotive Press Assn. during an online presentation.  

Hybrids ranked first on CR’s latest reliability ratings (see chart, below) that are based on factors that include road and track testing, safety features and feedback from 300,000 vehicle owners.

EVs as a segment are second to the last on the list, beating out only fullsize pickup trucks, which are noted for their toughness, but “there’s a lot of difference between tough and reliable,” Fisher says.

Just seven of the 17 pickup models were rated average or above average for reliability. Although Toyota as a brand ranked No.1 in reliability, its new Tundra fullsize pickup scored below average.

Fisher attributes that poor showing to an all-new model change. New-model blues are not uncommon in the auto industry.

Likewise, it’s not that hybrids are inherently superior to battery-electric vehicles; it’s that the hybrids have longer histories as production vehicles. That means most bugs have been worked out.

Hybrids have been around for years now, Fisher says. “It’s not new technology.”

He predicts that as more car companies become veterans at making EVs, those vehicles will move up the reliability list. “It’s about growing pains and working out the bugs. EV reliability will increase over time.”

Even Tesla, the segment leader that has making EVs for more than a decade, has stumbled here and there with newer models. For example, the Model 3, an early Tesla model, outranks the newer Tesla Model Y in reliability.

CR’s five most reliable auto brands are Toyota (with 72 scoring points), Lexus (also 72), BMW (65), Mazda (65) and Honda (62).

Toyota introduced the first mass-market hybrid, the Prius, in 1997. Today, many Toyota models have hybrid versions, including the Corolla, Camry, Highlander and RAV4.        

On the CR reliability list, Ford’s Lincoln luxury brand wins most-improved honors. It rose 14 spots to No.10. It’s the only U.S. domestic brand in the top 10.

Surprisingly, venerable luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz ranked last with 24 points.

Fisher attributes that poor showing to the German automaker’s attempt to differentiate itself with glitzy (but, as it turns out, glitchy) advanced electronics.

“Getting into that is an opportunity to put in more problems,” he says. At least until an automaker figures out how to take them out.

But Fisher contends that while automakers stuff more and more electronic features into new vehicles and EVs, “layering on a bunch of technology really isn’t the way to go.”

Consumer Reports Reliability Ranking