When the German adacthe largest car club in the world, publishes the annual statistical damage, both automakers and drivers read the evaluation of the data carefully to draw their conclusions.

“Fample Statistics 2025: Winned and Lost” shows that electric cars “stay” on the road rarely than conventional internal combustion engines. For electricity released between 2020 and 2022 were recorded by ADAC road assistance workers 4.2 damage per 1,000 cars. The damage to the thermal engines were more than double, with 10.4 per 1,000 vehicles. The data for 2025 confirm earlier statistics. However, due to the increase in the fleet of electric vehicles in Germany, the results are based on a much wider database.

This year’s statistics also show that electric cars are expanding their lead. Although the incidence is gradually limited to all vehicles, it is reduced faster in three years. ADAC attributes this development to the fact that “many of the” childhood diseases “and vulnerabilities that have been displayed in the early years of electric cars were corrected by manufacturers, thanks to their greater experience.”

Twice as many lesions in thermal engines

According to the German car club, the main differences of electric and conventional are found in the engine, which in electricity has simpler construction and fewer mechanical parts. The internal combustion engines consist of hundreds of components, such as pistons, valves and turbochargers. On the other hand, electric motors consist of a much smaller number of components, which translates to less chance of wear and therefore damage. Let us not forget that electric motors do not need an engine oil, which over time loses in quality and can cause engine damage. Thermal engines have one more disadvantage: they operate at high temperatures that cause greater damage.

The most common cause of damage is stable, regardless of whether it is electric or conventional engines. In 2024, 44.9% of the lesions, which were called by ADAC’s road aid to resolve, were caused by empty batteries. They follow, in thermal engines, engine problems. In electric cars, the lesions are associated with the high voltage system and the electric systems of the vehicle.

ADAC’s statistics assessed a total of 159 models of 20 car brands. The statistics were collected from road assistance calls when the vehicles were damaged, which was not caused by the driver. The German car club consciously evaluated statistics only in 2020-2022 traffic to compare as objective electric and conventional cars as possible.

dpa, adac.de