Owners of new electric cars encounter more problems using them than traditional ICE car drivers, J. D. Power has discovered after analyzing its annual car quality research data. Unfortunately, light passenger cars have declined in quality across the board.
J.D. Power polls owners of latest-model-year cars to find out how satisfied they are with their purchases. The pool includes more than 84,000 respondents. The researchers then calculate the number of defects or issues per 100 vehicles based on it.
Buick was the leader of the quality ranking in 2021, followed by Dodge and Chevrolet. Genesis came fourth, but won the first place among premium car marques.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Chrysler, Volvo, Maserati, Audi and Volkswagen scored the most issues per 100 cars. Actually, the absolute anti-record was claimed by Polestar, but formal limitations prevented the inclusion of the former Volvo sub-brand into the list as a standalone entry.
The latest Chevrolet Corvette was found to be the single most trouble-free production vehicle on the market today.
However, issues and failures averaged at 180 per 100 cars, a new high for the industry. Ongoing automotive industry crisis along with part shortages, staff reduction and other emergency measures undoubtedly contributed to this lamentable state of things. Interestingly enough, mass-market cars attracted fewer complaints than premium vehicles.
As for electric cars, they were found to perform consistently worse than ICE cars and hybrids of all kinds. Complex design might be partly to blame for this, but we suspect that aggressive cost reduction policies played no small part, either.
Unsatisfactory infotainment experience was the most frequent complaint.