A new study has found that electric vehicles (EVs) suffer fewer breakdowns than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles of the same age, with ICE vehicles clocking two-and-a-half times as many breakdowns as electric cars.
Germany’s Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC) published an analysis of breakdowns attended by its “Yellow Angel” service responders. The breakdown rate for combustion engines was 9.4 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles in 2024, compared to just 3.8 for electric cars.
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In total, ADAC recorded more than 3.6 million “Yellow Angel” breakdowns in 2024, a further increase compared to 2023. The number of breakdowns involving electric cars rose by 46% due to the growing number of electric cars, although not to the same extent as the number of vehicles in operation (97%).
With the sharp increase in electric cars on the roads, the data in the ADAC breakdown statistics is improving: It shows that electric vehicles are less prone to breakdowns than combustion engines of the same age. Among vehicles two to four years old, combustion engines suffer two-and-a-half times as many breakdowns as electric cars.
The current 2025 breakdown statistics provide a detailed evaluation of the most reliable and most vulnerable vehicle models of all drive types.
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For ICE vehicles, the model with the highest breakdown rate is the Toyota C-HR, with 63.1 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles. The best performing ICE vehicles are the MINI (0.3) and Audi A4 (0.4), ranked highest among the two-year-old vehicles.
The best electric car was the Tesla Model 3 (0.5). The statistics also highlighted the breakdown susceptibility of the Hyundai IONIQ 5 (22.4) is due to problems with the integrated charging control unit (ICCU) and has already resulted in a recall by the Federal Motor Transport Authority. As in previous years, the defective starter battery was the main cause of breakdowns.
See the full analysis here.
