Volkswagen: EVs Are 'Much More Reliable' Than Gas Cars

But studies say otherwise.

Volkswagen ID.7 GTX Tourer

Adrian Padeanu

By: Adrian Padeanu

Jan 9, 2025 at 3:49am ET

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Volkswagen is confident its electric vehicle sales will finally flourish in 2025. In Europe, it has more orders for the ID.7 than for the Passat. It's leading in the electric vehicle sales race at home in Germany and was the most popular EV maker in Norway last October. This year, it realistically expects zero-emission cars to account for as much as 25 percent of deliveries in the EU.

The company's sales boss, Martin Sander, hyped up electric vehicles in a recent interview with Automotive News. Asked why people should consider an EV over a gas car, VW's Board Member for Sales, Marketing, and After Sales said: "First, you have to talk about the facts. For instance, electric vehicles are much more reliable than ICE vehicles. But the only way to change opinions is by getting customers into the vehicles."

However, the latest Consumer Reports study showed that EV owners have had 42 percent more issues with their cars. As bad as that may sound, it's actually a major improvement compared to the 2023 study, when electric cars had 79 percent more problems than ICEs. Released in December 2024, the newest analysis contains responses from approximately 300,000 owners of cars from the 2022 to 2024 model years. CR, which has the VW ID.4 on its list of the least reliable new vehicles*,* says it's received more feedback from EV owners than ever before.

Sander added that people who are reluctant to buy EVs should test one for a day to “see how simple charging is and how fast charging can be." The man in charge of sales at VW went as far as to say the ID.3 "tops the Tesla Model Y, the VW Golf, and the BMW i4 in key areas." He explained the electric hatch in hot GTX guise has more range than a Model Y, better performance than a Golf GTI, and faster 10-80 percent charging than the i4.

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VW's electric lineup expansion will continue with a cheaper car, the ID.2. Priced from under €25,000 ($25,700), it’ll be a "game changer," according to Sander. An even more affordable model, possibly called ID.1, will start at less than €20,000 ($20,600). For the entry-level EV, the initial plan was to join forces with Renault, but the two companies ultimately decided to part ways. The VW Group will develop the ID.1 in-house, while the French brand is doing all the work for the electric Twingo.

When it arrives near the end of the decade, the ninth-generation Golf will be an electric-only model. It will be built in Wolfsburg, where the current model with combustion engines is assembled. However, production of the ICE Golf hatchback and wagon in Germany will end in 2027, and output will be relocated to Puebla, Mexico. The gas and electric Golfs will peacefully coexist for several years. VW is not ruling out keeping the Mk8 on sale until 2035.

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Sources: Automotive News, Consumer Reports

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