The old arguments against electric cars keep falling over. UK test data now shows high-mileage EVs fail their annual roadworthiness test less often than petrol cars, with the gap widening as the kilometres climb.
The test is the MOT, the UK’s yearly roadworthy check for cars over 3 years old. New AutoMotive, run by chief executive Ben Nelmes, analysed 47.4 million MOT results for the BVRLA, the UK rental and leasing industry body. The RAC reported the results.
Between 90,000 and 120,000 miles, about 145,000 to 193,000km, EVs were about 25% less likely to fail than comparable petrol cars. At low mileage, EVs and petrol cars were almost level. Beyond about 60,000 miles, or 97,000km, the EV failure rate flattened out. The petrol rate kept rising past 120,000 miles, surely another nail in the coffin of legacy.
The one area where EVs did worse was friction brakes on older cars with low mileage. The study noted the extra defects were down to corrosion on brakes that get little use, with regenerative braking doing most of the stopping. EVs could easily overcome this by warning the driver with a freidnly reminder to turn off one-pedal for a bit. The MOT doesn’t test battery health, but warranties cover 8 years generally.
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ABOVE: BMW i3, BYD ATTO 1, and chargers
Cheaper Than the Petrol Twin
In some markets, the all-wheel-drive electric BMW 3 Series undercuts the all-wheel-drive petrol version by $4,400, Everything Electric reported. Its range is 468 miles, against about 450 on a tank for the petrol car. Charging adds 200 miles in 10 minutes, so the “can’t do a roadtrip” trope also starts to look flimsy.
In Australia, BMW sells the electric 3 Series as the i3, due in the first quarter of 2027. The i3 50 xDrive costs $16,000 less than the M350 xDrive, its all-wheel-drive petrol equivalent. At the bottom of the range, the i3 40 xDrive costs $13,000 more than the rear-drive 320 petrol.
The electric iX3 50 xDrive was priced only $3,000 above the X3 plug-in hybrid, almost making parity.
BYD ATTO 1 Essential is $23,990 plus on-roads, currently on offer at $19,990 drive-away. The NRMA Best Value Awards 2026 put Toyota Yaris Ascent Sport Hybrid at $33,069 drive-away, with MG3 Hybrid+ Excite at $29,415.
On that offer, the ATTO 1 undercuts the MG3 hybrid by $9,425 and the Yaris by $13,079. In August, EVs outsold petrol cars for the first time, with a record 24.8% of new car sales.
Flash Charging and the Ampol Deal
BYD’s Super e-Platform charges at 1000kW, or 1 megawatt, for a peak of 2km of range per second. The fastest public DC chargers in Australia top out at around 350 to 400kW, but faster are coming.
BYD’s luxury brand Denza plans flash chargers at its dealers in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. Denza Z9 GT is the first flash-capable car it named for sale in Australia. The timing slipped, with BYD COO Stephen Collins saying in October that a charging infrastructure announcement is due in 2027.
Everything Electric also reported that BYD’s second-generation Seagull gets flash charging in China, where it costs under US$10,000. Its small battery charges in about 3 to 4 minutes. The Seagull is sold in Australia as the ATTO 1.
Ampol, the petrol retailer, agreed to buy Evie Networks for $225 million. Evie has more than 1,030 charging bays across over 400 sites. Ampol’s own AmpCharge network had just over 300 bays. The deal still needs ACCC approval.
Ampol managing director and CEO Matt Halliday said, “Public charging infrastructure is a precondition for broad electric vehicle adoption.”
EVs as Grid Storage
Since Amendment 2 to the AS/NZS 4777.2 standard in August 2025, bidirectional chargers can connect to the grid. Three are on the Clean Energy Council approved list, V2Grid Numbat, Sigenergy SigenStor, and StarCharge Halo. Ausgrid approved the Numbat for its network.
Amber installed the first residential V2G chargers, made by StarCharge, in NSW and SA from March 2026. AGL’s trial has about 100 participants across 4 states, driving Hyundai, Kia, BYD, and Zeekr cars. Hyundai IONIQ 9 in our pictures is plugged into a StarCharge Halo.
Overseas, V2G is already on sale. Renault 5 went on sale with it in France in October 2024, with the Netherlands, Germany and the UK due in 2026. In the UK, Octopus Energy bundles a leased BYD Dolphin with a V2G charger and its Power Pack tariff.
The average EV battery holds about 75.8kWh, roughly 3 times the size of an average home battery.
AEMO’s 2026 Integrated System Plan has V2G adding 4.3GW/48.8GWh of storage to the National Electricity Market by 2050. That assumes just over 10% of household EVs take part, with no car drained below half. The NEM needs about 640GWh of dispatchable storage by 2050, so a 10% take-up covers about 8% of it.
IEEFA, critiquing AEMO’s earlier draft plan, cited enX modelling of 2,340GWh of available EV storage by 2050 on CSIRO’s uptake forecast. AEMO’s V2G figure uses about 2% of that.
The next 10 years are when it matters. AEMO’s 2026 plan has about 67% of the remaining coal fleet able to retire by 2035, most of it gone by 2038 and the last of it by 2049. Bidirectional EVs sold between now and then are storage the grid can call on as those plants close.
Plenty of EVs already on the road have the hardware for it, and making it ready is an over-the-air update.
If the whole fleet took part, the available EV storage would be more than 3.5 times the NEM’s entire 2050 requirement. That’s storage that soaks up midday solar and feeds it back at night, which the baseload argument for coal and gas says can’t exist.
UK MOT Fail Rates
| Mileage | EV | Petrol |
|---|---|---|
| 20,000 to 40,000 miles | 12% | 11.7% |
| 90,000 to 120,000 miles | 16.5% | 22.1% |
| Over 120,000 miles | 16% | 23.5% |
Figures from New AutoMotive for the BVRLA, reported by the RAC.
BMW 3 Series and i3
| Model | Engine | Drive | Price plus on-roads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 320 | Four-cylinder petrol | Rear-wheel drive | $83,900 |
| M350 xDrive | Six-cylinder petrol | All-wheel drive | $128,900 |
| i3 40 xDrive | Electric, 710km WLTP | All-wheel drive | $96,900 |
| i3 50 xDrive | Electric, 345kW/645Nm, 912km WLTP | All-wheel drive | $112,900 |
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Alan Zurvas is the founder and editor of Gay Car Boys, Australia's leading LGBTQI+ automotive publication. Before launching GCB in 2008, Alan's automotive writing was published in SameSame.com.au and the Star Observer. With over 16 years of hands-on car reviewing experience, Alan brings an honest, irreverent voice to every review — championing value and innovation over brand loyalty.
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