You might like: The 10 best new hybrid cars The scoresĬR surveys its owners about problems they experienced with their cars in the last calendar year. The Tesla Model 3 came in second, though the magazine is careful to note that it did not rate the reliability of Tesla’s Owners reported fewer problems than owners of any other EV, CR says. Related: The most and least reliable car brands, according to Consumer Reports Some are more reliable than others All these new features can often mean new problems.” On the other hand, EVs are primarily built on all-new platforms and “tend to showcase innovations, such as the latest controls, infotainment systems, and even electric-powered glove boxes and door handles. Gas cars, it says, “benefit from carrying over major components” from many years of designs. The magazine attributes the trend to technological maturity. Owners reported problems “associated with battery packs, charging, electric drive motors, and unique heating and cooling systems that are required on vehicles that lack a conventional engine.” Its 2022 data, CR says, “reveal that EVs as a category have more frequent problems than other vehicles.” The subscriber to a magazine that ranks vacuums for price effectiveness may have different preferences than the average shopper. That data collection method skews the outcome.

As a result, its data set is limited to the cars CR subscribers own. Instead, it asks its readers to report problems they’ve had in the last 12 months, then compiles the results for vehicles built since 2000.

The magazine doesn’t test every car on the market.

Consumer reports best hybrid