Do car battery replacement problems track battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks across states?
Across U.S. states, NHTSA owner complaints about car battery replacement run higher where battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks is higher, after adjusting for the makes sold in each state. This is an association across states, not proof that battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks causes this repair.
State reports of this repair against battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks, 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 battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks
How to read it: Each dot is a state. Further right means more battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks; 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 battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks.
What it shows: States with more battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks tend to sit higher on the chart across 51 states: a pattern in the data, not proof of cause.
Data: DOE AFDC, Electric Vehicle Registrations by State 2023, over FHWA Highway Statistics 2023 Table MV-1, joined to NHTSA owner complaints, downloaded 2026-10-06 · 51 states. Chart: CalcScrape · calcscrape.com
The 10 states with the most battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks (California, District of Columbia, New Jersey, Washington, Hawaii, Delaware, Nevada, Colorado, New York, Oregon): reports of this repair run 14% above what the makes sold there would predict, and 8 of 10 are above expected. The 10 with the least (North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota, Mississippi, Louisiana, West Virginia, Arkansas, Montana, Alabama, Iowa): 13% below, and 2 of 10 are above expected.
Exceptions: New Jersey and Colorado are among the highest in battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks but report below expected.
Split the states into thirds: the third with the least battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks runs 8% below what the makes sold there would predict, the middle third 5% below, and the third with the most 10% above. Most of the battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks effect sits in the third with the most.
For battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks, after allowing for the 1562 comparisons we ran, luck alone would produce a pattern this strong about 1 time in 10,000 or more. Take out any single state and the battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks 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 battery-electric vehicles as a share of registered cars and trucks.
Electric cars wear brake pads less because regenerative braking does much of the slowing, and wear tires faster because they are heavier.