Confuser Reports: EV Hit Job

It was hardly a shock when Consumer Reports came out with its 2024 Reliability Report last November showing or rather claiming that hybrids have "26% fewer problems than gas vehicles" while electric vehicles have "79% more problems than gas vehicles." Meanwhile, plug-in hybrids were described as having "146% more problems than gas vehicles."

The CR findings blended perfectly with Toyota's "Electrified Diversified" advertising campaign touting the car company's offering of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and battery electric vehicles. With its hybrid/plug-in hybrid push, Toyota appears to be trying to buy time while it sorts out its BEV strategy and props up its internal cumbustion offerings.

CR's Reliability Report beautifully buttressed Toyota's non-EV efforts with credible claims that EVs were a source of woe for consumers. It's not just that EVs are expensive and difficult to charge and weighed down by range anxiety - CR says they suck!

CR has been a long-time advocate, supporter, mouthpiece for the Japanese automotive industry touting the reliability and lower total cost of ownership advantages of Japanese auto makers generally, and Toyota in particular, vs. domestic auto makers. These were legit claims and findings and much as domestic auto makers hated it, they were forced to go back to the drawing board and clean up their collective act.

Year after year, CR praised Toyota and recognized its vehicles while trashing domestic makes and models for their shortcomings. Most of this analysis, of course, being based objectively on subscriber surveys.

Still, the results of the November EV assessment seemed shocking, contradictory, counter-intuitive. Wasn't CR a long-time proponent of fuel efficiency and clean energy? How and why would CR throw shade on EVs?

The EV Reliability Report findings re-exposed the weaknesses of survey-based assessments of the sort published by CR and J.D.Power & Associates. Both organizations have a history of dinging auto makers that take chances on new technologies from powertrains to infotainment systems. The reports also deliver insights on cars already on the road in the hands of consumers and, therefore, provide a distorted picture of the performance of vehicles actually rolling off assembly lines. (The CR report was based on cars from the latest three model years.)

For CR, the Reliability Report conveniently provided a loophole that dovetailed gloriously with Toyota's non-EV messaging. Toyota might be out of step with the concerns of climate change thought leaders and government incentives and mandates, but EVs have reliability problems, according to subscribe surveys. It was reliability to the rescue of Toyota.

Perhaps for that reason, CR published an explainer Youtube video walking through those results - including the disclaimer that the results are based on subscriber survey submissions and, as such, were strictly objective findings.

"Why is EV Reliability so Bad? / Talking Cars with Consumer Reports #433" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2e5An0_q3Q&t=471s - Youtube

But the really deceptive element of the CR Reliability Report is the picture that emerges from the explainer Youtube video. When it comes to EVs, the story boils down to Tesla vs. all other EV makers.

While Tesla had "reliability" problems early on, the company's build quality issues have subsided and CR actually has added the Model Y to its list of recommended vehicles. It is important to understand yet another issue with CR's report, which is the use of the word "reliability."

When I read "reliability" I interpret that as meaning that the vehicle is either working or not working. For CR, reliability can be a problematic door handle or a trunk that isn't closing properly. The ambiguity makes for a powerful headline with a deceptive message.

CR analysts acknowledge and emphasize that it is the EV "newcomers" building their first EVs that are pulling down the reliability scores for the category. But the Reliability Report paints with a broad brush. The message: EVs suck.

On the hybrid side of the market, CR's "favorite" brand - Toyota - rules with more than two and a half decades of building and selling Priuses - 6 million to be exact - along with 14M other hybrids over that time. The high reliability rating of hybrids is down to Toyota's dominance and long experience in the sector, which outweighs the shortcomings of hybrids from comparative newbies in the sector, like Ford Motor Company.

In essence, the Reliability Report reflects the ability of Toyota-owning CR subscribers and their survey contributions to overwhelm the shortcomings reported by competing hybrid models, while Tesla's recent reliability gains and survey respondents are not enough to overcome the negative reports on competing EVs. Which brings us to the final question as to whether this information is useful when making your own personal vehicle purchasing decision. More information is always better than less.

The real challenge confronting EV adoption derives from Tesla's price cuts that have undermined residual values. This single factor has eroded confidence among finance and insurance executives regarding the widespread deployment of leasing for EVs. This, in turn, has eroded plans of fleet operators from rental car companies to light commercial vehicle operators to electrify. (It's worth noting that this very much works in Tesla's favor - as the company prepares for the launch of the anticipated Model 2 and slows its own production.)

Once EV residual values settle down, the transition to electrification will accelerate and there will be no more quibbling about charging, or range, or reliability. In the meantime, the message from CR is the same as it's been for decades: buy a Toyota. Not this time.