Tesla, Rivian and Polestar performed terribly in JD Power’s 2024 Initial Quality Study. Tesla and Rivian outperformed all but one of the automakers surveyed, while Polestar scored the worst of all the brands considered for the report of this year.
JD Power said in its report that the problems “destroyed” battery electric vehicles as traditional OEMs leveled the playing field.
Frank Hanley, Senior Director of Auto Benchmarking at JD Power, said:
“It is not surprising that the introduction of new technology has challenged manufacturers to maintain vehicle quality. “However, the industry can take solace in the fact that some problem areas such as voice recognition and parking cameras are seen as less problematic now than they were a year ago.”
The study by JD Power highlighted claims commonly made by EV owners and manufacturers that fewer boosters for these vehicles make them less problematic and less likely to have problems requiring repairs.
However, this year’s study included new repair data, which showed that both BEVs and PHEVs had more repairs than gas vehicles in all categories.
Hanley added:
“Owners of modern technology-packed BEVs and PHEVs are experiencing problems that are so severe that they are taking their new vehicle into the dealership at three times the rate of that of owners of gas-powered vehicles.”
Results of the Study
Ram was the top-performing brand in this year’s study, having 149 problems per 100 vehicles, so JD Power appreciates the initial quality. Chevrolet (160), Hyundai (162) and Kia (163) finished second, third and fourth respectively.
The average across the entire study was 195 problems per 100 vehicles.
This brings us to the Rivian, Tesla and Polestar shows. Rivian and Tesla both had 266 problems per 100 vehicles, which ranked third worst behind Dodge (301) and Polestar (316).
All three brands were ranked below the actual study results because JD Power says they are “not eligible for ranking because they do not meet the study’s award criteria.”
JD Power had this to say about BEVs, especially Tesla:
“Gas and diesel vehicles are averaging 180 PP100 this year, while BEVs are 86 points higher at 266 PP100. While there are no notable improvements in BEV quality this year, the gap between Tesla’s BEV quality and traditional OEMs’ BEV quality has closed, with both at 266 PP100. In the past, Tesla has performed better, but that’s not the case this year, and the removal of traditional feature controls like turn signals and wiper blades has not been well received by Tesla customers.
In the past, Tesla has performed well in JD Power studies, particularly those related to the EV Ownership Experience and in-vehicle technology.
Tesla trifecta dominates JD Power’s 2022 EV Experience Ownership Study
The Lexus LC was ranked as the best entry-level model.
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