Hybrids continue to excel in reliability, while plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles are improving, according to a new Consumer Reports survey.
The publication’s 2025 Automotive Report Card showed the same rate of problems for hybrids as non-hybrids, based on reliability and owner satisfaction data from Consumer Reports’s member surveys.
“Today’s hybrids deliver reliability that is similar to conventional gas cars despite their added complexity,” Jake Fisher, senior director of Consumer Reports’s Auto Test Center, said in a statement. “CR’s tests have shown that they’re also often quieter, quicker, and more pleasant to drive than their gasoline-only counterparts.”
2025 Volvo XC60
While that’s encouraging, it’s also worth noting that in a 2023 reliability survey, hybrids registered 26% fewer problems than non-hybrids, so this result is worse for hybrids than last year. EVs and plug-in hybrids went in the opposite direction, though.
EVs remained more trouble-prone than internal-combustion models, with 42% more problems on average, but that’s down from 79% more problems last year. Plug-in hybrids went from 146% more problems than non-hybrid vehicles last year to 70% more this year.
2025 Rivian R1T and R1S
As with last year’s survey, reliability varied not just by powertrain but by brand. Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, and Toyota hybrids earned top reliability scores, while the Volvo XC60 plug-in hybrid improved sufficiently in reliability to earn a recommendation from CR. The Rivian R1S and R1T, along with the Ford F-150 Lightning, received well-below and below-average reliability ratings, respectively. Rivian was also the lowest-ranked brand for reliability.
Other surveys have also noted more problems for plug-in vehicles. In its 2025 Vehicle Dependability Study, J.D. Power found that EVs and plug-in hybrids were more trouble-prone than hybrids over the the first three years of ownership, and EVs owners also reported more problems than the industry average for new cars in the firm’s 2024 Initial Quality Study.
