The China New Energy Vehicle Initial Quality Study (NEV-IQS) measures new-vehicle quality by examining problems experienced by NEV owners in two segments: design-related problems and defects/ malfunctions. Specific diagnostic questions include 236 problem symptoms across 10 categories: features/ controls/ displays; exterior; interior; infotainment system; seats; driving experience; driving assistance; powertrain; battery/ charging; and climate.

The study this year is based on responses from 9,791 vehicle owners who purchased their vehicle between July 2023 and January 2024. The study includes 105 models from 48 different brands, among which 74 models have sufficient samples. The study was fielded from December 2023 through March 2024 in 81 cities across China.

The BYD Atto 3 had 196 PP100, tied with the Aion V Plus. Meanwhile, the Zeekr 001 had 171 PP100—the only one in its segment to score above the segment average.

J.D. Power, however, said that in an increasingly competitive Chinese EV industry, shortened development cycles have led to more quality-related problems.

The average number of quality problems experienced by buyers of New Energy Vehicles (the blanket term given to vehicles fully or mostly powered by electricity), increased to 210 per 100 vehicles (PP100)—a jump of 37 problems compared to 2023. The lower the PP100, the better.

The number of design-related problems, rose 35 PP100 becoming the main reason behind the surge in overall NEV quality issues.

Surprisingly, the survey finds that vehicles produced by Chinese NEV startups had the fewest quality problems, standing at 201 PP100 (up, however, by 31 PP100). International brands have the highest number of quality problems at 218 PP100, a substantial increase of 54 PP100 from last year.

According to J.D. Power, the quality of range-extended vehicles led the industry with a quality score that’s 8 PP100 lower than the overall average. Range-extended vehicles also exceled in powertrain performance and intelligent features.

Meanwhile, problems with driving assistance and infotainment systems increase significantly by 7.2 PP100 and 6.9 PP100, respectively—the highest increases among the 10 categories monitored by the study. Driving assistance problems mainly focus on backup cameras, including poor image clarity, dirty lenses, and loud radar alerts. Infotainment problems are varied, including inaccurate voice recognition, unresponsive touch screens, and inaccurate navigation.

Unpleasant interior smell (7.2 PP100) and road noise (5.7 PP100) are the top two quality problems—and have been for six consecutive years. However, compared with 2023, the number of problems in these two areas have decreased 2.2 PP100 and 1.8 PP100, respectively.

Quality problems experienced by younger owners have increased: While NEV design satisfaction among young vehicle owners (born after 1995) has improved year over year (+26 points), their satisfaction with quality has decreased (+47 PP100). Among the top 20 problems cited by owners, six are for driving experience, including steering control, tire grip, suspension, and pedal noise.

These are the top-ranking NEV models in the study.