Tesla is dropping its lead over legacy automakers within the high quality of its new all-electric automobiles, in keeping with an annual influential examine carried out by J.D. Energy.

The 2024 U.S. Preliminary High quality Examine discovered the standard of Tesla’s battery-electric automobiles, or BEVs, and people of conventional carmakers had been the identical, at 266 issues reported per 100 newly offered or leased automobiles.

Beforehand Tesla fashions outperformed the electrical automobiles of legacy automakers within the annual survey of high quality. Final 12 months, the U.S. EV chief obtained a rank of 257 issues per 100 automobiles, in contrast with 265 issues per 100 automobiles on common for EVs from conventional automakers.

The examine attributes Tesla’s rising issues to a unfavourable response from prospects after the corporate eliminated conventional function controls, reminiscent of flip indicators and wiper stalks.

Throughout the broader trade, not simply BEVs, Tesla has persistently ranked towards the underside in preliminary high quality since J.D. Energy started together with Tesla within the examine in 2022.

Total, the examine, which included restore visits information of franchised sellers for the primary time, discovered electrical automobiles reminiscent of BEVs and plug-in hybrid electrical automobiles (PHEVs), are plagued with extra issues in comparison with conventional gas- and diesel-powered automobiles with inside combustion engines.

“House owners of leading edge, tech-filled BEVs and PHEVs are experiencing issues which are of a severity degree excessive sufficient for them to take their new automobile into the dealership at a fee 3 times greater than that of gas-powered automobile house owners,” Senior Director of Auto Benchmarking at J.D. Energy Frank Hanley mentioned in a information launch.

The examine discovered that plug-in automobiles require extra repairs than gas-powered automobiles throughout all restore classes.

BEVs averaged 266 issues per 100 automobiles, 86 factors greater than gas- and diesel-powered automobiles, which averaged 180 issues per 100 automobiles, in keeping with the examine. A decrease rating signifies greater automobile high quality.

High issues included options, controls and shows in addition to wi-fi smartphone integration, as prospects reported frequent difficulties with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The examine additionally reported frustration over false warnings, pointless site visitors alerts and automated braking options. Particularly, rear seat reminders contribute 1.7 issues per 100 automobiles throughout the trade, as house owners report receiving indicators even when nobody is within the rear seat.

“It’s not shocking that the introduction of latest expertise has challenged producers to keep up automobile high quality,” Hanley mentioned.

— CNBC’s Michael Wayland contributed to this report.