ADAC statistics: More breakdowns in e-cars

The number of vehicles with electric motors is increasing in Germany, and with it the number of breakdowns in electric cars. Problems with the starter battery are also the most common cause here.

In the event of breakdowns recorded by the ADAC in its statistics, the car battery is the most common reason for the automobile club’s breakdown helpers to be deployed. In 2022, its “Yellow Angels” had to provide more breakdown assistance for e-cars.

In 2022, the breakdown helpers then had to take care of 52,000 broken-down electric and hybrid vehicles. This is a significant increase compared to the 25,000 deployments in the previous year. However, the number of vehicles with electric drives is also increasing. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, a good one million fully electric cars and 865,000 plug-in hybrids were on the road in Germany at the end of 2022 – most of them were newly registered in the past three years.

More problems with the starter battery in electric cars

As in previous years, problems with the car battery were the most common cause of breakdowns in 2022. This corresponds to 43.2 percent of all cases in which the ADAC road patrol helped – slightly less than in the previous year (46.2 percent). In the case of e-cars, the percentage of starter battery failures is well over 50 percent.

Second place went to breakdowns on the engine or engine management (23.8 percent). These include above all problems with the injection, ignition or sensors. At 10.4 percent, the third most common reason that required the help of the road patrol was problems with the generator, the starter, the on-board network or the lighting.

Fast chargers in the test phase

The club wants to prepare for the growing number of breakdowns in e-cars. In a practical test, the ADAC is now testing the suitability of mobile quick chargers for charging empty battery cars. “Due to the rapid increase in electric vehicles and the weaknesses in the battery management of many electric cars that still exist today, the club expects a significant increase in the number of breakdowns.”

On the other hand, specific electric car components such as the battery, electric motor or charging technology were rarely responsible for breakdowns. The ADAC roadside assistance had fewer calls last year due to the mild winter. In total, she was called around 3.41 million times. That was almost 80,000 fewer missions than in the previous year.