Volkswagen Lover: Tesla Model S gets 'recommended' rating from Consumer Reports; Prius V, Ford hybrids not so much [feedly]

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Toyota, Tesla Motors

How can Consumer Reports give a car a 99 out of 100 rating, call it "the most practical electric car we've ever tested" and still not give it a "Recommended" rating? Because of how that rating gets decided. Basically, when CR tests a vehicle, it also needs more reliability data over time to assign that famous "Recommended" rating. That time has now passed, and the Tesla Model S is, indeed, recommended.

The update comes in the new Consumer Reports Annual Auto Reliability rankings, where the Model S has been added to the "Models that now have sufficient data" list. The data combines CR's in-house tests with subscriber survey data with, CR says, 1.1 million vehicles. There were only 600 Model S EVs in that data pool, and CR says the 2012 models were holding up better than the 2013 models. The problems that drivers reported included "wind noise, squeaks and rattles, and body hardware (including the sunroof, doors, and locks)."

One well-known green car has dropped off the "recommended" list due to getting a "poor" rating in some crash tests. The Toyota Prius V (along with the Camry and RAV4) lost its "recommended" rating, part of a year where "Japanese dominance in car reliability is showing cracks." The standard Prius liftback, Prius C, Lexus ES 300h, Honda CR-Z and Nissan Leaf all were considered "top models," while the Ford C-Max and Fusion hybrids were not. In fact, CR's press release (available below), says the "Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid got the worst [predicted-reliability] score, and the regular C-Max Hybrid wasn't much better."