Broken chargers, janky software, and busted screens have been an existing problem for electric vehicle owners with public charging stations in the US.
EV owners remained dissatisfied with the overall experience despite the significant increase in public charging stations in the US, according to The Verge.
The second annual Electric Vehicle Experience Public Charging Study by JD Power has 11,554 EV and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners as respondents from January through June 2022, which revealed that satisfaction with charging at a public Level 2 charger decreased to 633 from 643 in 2021 while satisfaction with the Destination Charger remains 674.
Brent Gruber, executive director of global automotive at JD Power, stated, “Not only is the availability of public charging still an obstacle, but EV owners continue to be faced with charging station equipment that is inoperable.” The survey also revealed that 1 out of every 5 EV owners is not able to charge their vehicle despite locating a charging station due to its inoperability, such as malfunctions and out-of-service situations, according to 72% of the respondents.
It should be no surprise that Tesla tops for customer satisfaction, with its Destination wall-mounted Level 2 chargers earning the highest rating of 680 out of 1,000, followed by Volta at 667 points and ChargePoint at 639. With a score of 739, Tesla’s Supercharger network is also the best among DC fast chargers, followed by ChargePoint at 644 points and Electrify America at 614 points, both below the segment average for all brands.
Public charging stations must spread out and become more reliable, like gas stations, if EVs are to become a more appealing option for automobile owners.
As a result of the Biden administration’s infrastructure plan that was approved late last year, $5 billion would be used to build EV charging stations across all 49 states and the District of Columbia, with the majority of the funding going to the states.
