Many hybrid autos are thought of essentially the most dependable of all autos, electrical autos are making progress: Shopper Experiences

For the U.S. automotive industry, if not the global one, 2024 began with media headlines celebrating the “renaissance” of hybrid vehicles. This came as many drivers took a practical approach that sought to strike a balance between completely abandoning gasoline-powered vehicles and instead using fully electric vehicles.

Now, as the year comes to a close and the future of tax incentives to support electric vehicle (EV) purchases remains highly uncertain, it appears that the hybrid renaissance still has many bright days ahead. According to Consumer Reports' (CR) year-end survey, automakers have listened to consumers' wishes and worked to improve the quality and reliability of hybrid vehicles.

For the survey, data was collected from owners of around 300,000 vehicles from model years 2022 to 2024. It turns out that many hybrid vehicles are some of the most reliable vehicles on the market. And as a category, hybrid vehicles are now viewed by drivers as just as reliable as non-hybrid gasoline cars.

Please enable JavaScript to view this content

The survey covers 20 potential problem areas including engines, transmissions, electric motors, leaks and infotainment systems.

“Today's hybrid vehicles, despite their added complexity, offer similar reliability to traditional gasoline cars,” says Jake Fisher, senior director of Consumer Reports' Auto Test Center. CR's tests have shown that they are often quieter, faster and more pleasant to drive than their pure petrol engines.

According to Consumer Reports, the best hybrid vehicles available come from Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus and Toyota, each with the highest reliability scores in several categories.

Full hybrid vehicles combine a gas engine, a battery and an electric motor, ensuring lower fuel consumption compared to traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. A key advantage over electric vehicles is that hybrid drivers do not have to worry about finding available electric vehicle chargers.

However, electric vehicles have also gained in value among consumers in terms of their reliability. Drivers surveyed by Consumer Reports still found that electric vehicles from the last three model years had 42% more problems than gasoline-only cars. But that's a significant improvement from last year's survey, which found electric vehicles had 79% more problems than gasoline-only cars.