Tesla is the electric car most likely to drive you to frustration as they are more prone to faults

Teslas are the least reliable electric cars because they develop more faults than any other brand, research reveals.

Overall, one in three pure electric drivers have suffered at least one fault within 12 months, found consumer champion Which?.

But for Tesla owners, the figure was four in ten – the worst score for a fully electric brand. 

Some one in 20 drivers reported their Tesla breaking down or failing to start.

By comparison, just 6 per cent of Kia e-Niro owners reported faults and only 1 per cent reported a breakdown or failure to start.

It was the best-scoring pure electric car and, starting at £32,895, costs around two times less than Tesla’s most expensive model.

The Which? analysis surveyed 48,000 motorists and found electric cars were less reliable than other types. 

It asked drivers how many faults they had suffered in a year on cars up to four years old.

One in three electric drivers suffered faults, while for petrol this was one in five.

For diesel vehicles, the rate was 29 per cent, plug-in hybrids were 28 per cent and conventional hybrids were 17 per cent. 

A Tesla Model S charging at a motorway service station in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Which? research has found four in ten Tesla owners reported a fault within the first 12 months

Electric car owners also reported the most breakdowns or their vehicle failing to start with the figure at 8 per cent, compared to 3.5 per cent for petrol vehicles. 

The most common faults for electric cars were with their in-built software systems rather than issues with the batteries or other internal parts.

The findings were a blow for electric car makers, particularly for Tesla and its boss Elon Musk.

Ginny Buckley, of advice website Electrifying.com, said: ‘There are some big-name car brands which have failed to overcome the challenges of developing software for electric cars.’