Do car battery replacement problems track average one-way commute across states?
Across U.S. states, NHTSA owner complaints about car battery replacement run higher where average one-way commute is higher, after adjusting for the makes sold in each state. This is an association across states, not proof that average one-way commute causes this repair.
State reports of this repair against average one-way commute, one dot per stateEach dot is a state: how much more (or less) than expected this repair is reported there, adjusted for the makes sold in the state, against its average one-way commute (minutes)
How to read it: Each dot is a state. Further right means more average one-way commute (minutes); higher up means more complaints for this repair than expected (1.0 is average). If the dots climb to the right, reports of this repair rise with average one-way commute (minutes).
What it shows: States with more average one-way commute (minutes) tend to sit higher on the chart across 51 states: a pattern in the data, not proof of cause.
Data: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 (B08013, B08301), joined to NHTSA owner complaints, downloaded 2026-10-06 · 51 states. Chart: CalcScrape · calcscrape.com
The 10 states with the most average one-way commute (New York, Maryland, New Jersey, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, California, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, West Virginia): reports of this repair run 6% above what the makes sold there would predict, and 6 of 10 are above expected. The 10 with the least (South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Alaska, Kansas, Iowa, Montana, Idaho, Wisconsin): 8% below, and 4 of 10 are above expected.
Exceptions: New Jersey, Florida and Illinois are among the highest in average one-way commute but report below expected.
Split the states into thirds: the third with the least average one-way commute runs 4% below what the makes sold there would predict, the middle third 6% below, and the third with the most 6% above. Most of the average one-way commute effect sits in the third with the most.
For average one-way commute, after allowing for the 1562 comparisons we ran, luck alone would produce a pattern this strong about 1 time in 9. Take out any single state and the average one-way commute pattern still holds.
Weak spot: compare only states with similar cost of living index and the pattern keeps about 0% of its strength, so part of it may come from cost of living index instead of average one-way commute.
More time on the road every day wears parts out sooner.