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SALT LAKE CITY – If there’s any idea of putting an electric vehicle under your Christmas Tree this year, you may want to reconsider that holiday gift to yourself.
A recent study by the international car auction platform eCarsTrade revealed 10 vehicle models in America that appear to be the automotive equivalent of electric lemons.
Of those 10 problematic vehicles, four were manufactured by Tesla, Inc. The remaining six were manufactured by Nissan, Volkswagen, General Motors, Kia, Ford and Porsche.
Researchers at eCarsTrade explained that their December 2025 analysis was based on federal recall records for electric vehicles (EV’s). Their study ranked each model by three factors: number of separate recall campaigns, total vehicles affected by those recalls and monthly online lookups by concerned EV owners about safety issues.
The study also examined common EV issues to provide context on what typically goes wrong with electric vehicles.
Another reason to think twice before purchasing an electric vehicle is that the market is unstable amid dramatic policy shifts under President Donald Trump and shaky consumer demand.
Almost $23 billion worth of EV and battery projects involving more than 30,000 jobs have been canceled throughout the nation during this year alone, according to Atlas Public Policy, a policy research firm based in Washington, D.C.
Others – including construction of a nationwide network of EV charging station authorized during the Biden era — are being downsized or delayed.
In 2023, there were more than 37,000 EV’s registered in Utah, up from about 25,000 in 2022, a 45 percent leap in one year. But electric vehicles still make up less than 1.5 percent of the total vehicles being driven by Utahns.
Under state mandates in California, however, the transition to green-powered cars is much more advanced. According to a report from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, California led the nation in 2024 with nearly 27 percent of registered cars and light trucks being either electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles or fuel cell electric vehicles.
But some automotive experts consider the ongoing U.S. switch to electric vehicles to be premature.
For example, the eCarsTrade researchers found that Tesla has big problems. Four of the manufacturers products – the Model 3, Model S, Cybertruck and Model X – have collectively been recalled 36 times, affecting more than 1.1 million electric vehicles.
Of the remaining six vehicles listed in the top ten of least reliable EV’s (the Nissan Leaf, the Volks ID.4, the Bolt from GM, the Kia EV6, the Mustang Mach-E from Ford and the Porsche Taycan), they have collectively been recalled 58 times affecting 1.2 million vehicles.
In general, electric vehicles have fewer moving parts than conventional automobiles, so they should be less problematic and easier to maintain.
But automotive experts acknowledge that many of the problems experienced by EV owners stem from intense competition and state mandates that pushed manufacturers to launch electric vehicles quickly, sometimes before adequately testing new systems.
Other problems result from the fact that EV’s can weigh 30 to 40 percent more than gas cars, destroying suspension and axle components designed for lighter vehicles. The high-voltage electrical system in EV’s also makes them prone to battery fires.
As the EV industry matures and manufacturers learn from these early mistakes, the eCarsTrade experts predict, recall rates will likely decline.
Additional information about the recent study can be found by going online to https://ecarstrade.com
Founded in 2009, eCarsTrade is an online car auction platform located in Mumbai, India that focuses on remarketing European cars formerly owned by leasing entities.
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