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New figures show EVs are the most clocked fuel type car

ended 18. May 2026

New figures show EVs are the most clocked fuel type car.

New analysis from vehicle history platform carVertical shows electric cars are now the most commonly clocked fuel type in the UK, with 3% of those checked showing evidence of mileage tampering.

That puts EVs ahead of diesel cars (2.8%), petrol cars (2.5%), and hybrids (2%) and comes at a time when many households are looking for ways to cut motoring costs by switching to an EV. 

With uncertainty around global oil markets and fuel prices piling extra pressure on drivers, more are expected to consider EVs as they look for ways to cut everyday motoring costs.

While electric cars were the most likely to have been clocked, diesel cars saw the biggest average rollback, with mileage cut by around 35,000 miles on average. Petrol cars had an average rollback of around 28,000 miles, hybrids around 25,000 miles, and EVs around 15,000 miles.

The data shows some used EV brands may carry a particularly high risk. Among electric cars checked by carVertical in the UK, Kia had the highest share with mileage discrepancies (13.6%), followed by Nissan (12.4%), Renault (4%), Audi (2.7%) and Volkswagen (1.8%).

  • Do EV buyers need to be careful?
  • Why do you think EVs are the most clocked cars?
  • Do you own an EV? What is your reaction to the figures?

Responses this morning please.

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Katrina YoungVerified
Futurist | Chief Technology Officer CTO/CDO Ethical AI & Digital Transformation Strategist at KYC Digital
The carVertical figures are being reported as another mileage fraud story. They are not. Clocking an EV is fundamentally different to clocking a diesel because the rollback does not just hide wear. It can also distort perceptions of battery condition, warranty exposure, servicing patterns, and residual value. A 15,000-mile discrepancy may materially change how buyers assess the long-term economics of the vehicle.

What makes this more concerning is that modern EVs generate extensive operational data around charging behaviour, battery performance, and vehicle usage, yet much of this information is not consistently accessible at resale. Buyers are still heavily reliant on dashboard mileage and fragmented history records. As the used EV market grows, transparency around battery health and verified usage data will become increasingly important to pricing and buyer confidence.
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Rohit Parmar-MistryVerified
Founder at Pattrn Data
Clocked EVs show that the used-car trust problem has simply moved with the technology. Buyers may think an electric car is a cleaner, simpler purchase, but if the mileage record is wrong the financial and safety risk is still very real.

The awkward bit is that EVs are already hard for many buyers to judge. Battery health, software history, charging behaviour and mileage all matter, and most consumers do not have an easy way to verify the full story. That creates room for bad actors to exploit the excitement around cheaper running costs.

The advice is boring but important: check history, question gaps, compare wear against the mileage and do not treat a digital dashboard as proof. Better data should make the market safer, but only if buyers and dealers can challenge it when something does not add up. For this brief, the useful answer is evidence people can check, limits they understand, and a clear route to challenge a poor outcome.