The lack and unreliability of public charging infrastructures remain among the top barriers that impede the wider uptake of electric vehicles in the US.
JD Power 2023 US Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Public Charging Study revealed Wednesday that customers’ overall satisfaction has been constantly declining up to now.
Nonetheless, Tesla’s enormous Supercharger network continues to dominate the EV charging industry in the country regarding reliability.
Study highlights
JD Power’s 2023 EVX Public Charging Study marks its third year of measuring EV owners’ satisfaction with public charging operators in the country.
It employs a 1,000-point scale in determining customer satisfaction with public chargers based on the following criteria:
- ease of charging
- speed of charging
- physical condition of charging station
- availability of chargers
- convenience of this location
- things to do while charging
- how safe you feel at this location
- ease of finding this location
- cost of charging
- ease of payment
JD Power’s latest EVX Public Charging Study found that customer satisfaction on Level 2 public chargers declined 16 points to 617 from 2022. Meanwhile, customer satisfaction with DC fast chargers was down 20 points to 645.
JD Power’s EV Practice Executive Director explained why customer satisfaction with public chargers in the US is falling. He cited the network’s unavailability, unreliability, and unaffordability, among others.
“The declining customer satisfaction scores for public charging should be concerning to automakers and, more broadly, to public charging stakeholders. The availability of public charging stations is still a critical obstacle, but it isn’t the only one. EV owners continue to have issues with many aspects of public charging, as the cost and speed of charging and the availability of things to do while waiting for their vehicle to charge are the least satisfying aspects. At the same time, the reliability of public chargers continues to be a problem. The situation is stuck at a level where one of every five visits ends without charging, the majority of which are due to station outages.”
Brent Gruber, JD Power’s Executive Director of the EV practice
Unsurprisingly, Tesla Superchargers has once again dominated the rankings with its 745 customer satisfaction points. However, it declined by 189 points to 550 when Tesla EV owners used other public chargers.
That said, Tesla’s goal of standardizing the NACS connector can potentially improve the customer satisfaction of its rivals that adopted its charging technology.
“With greater adoption of the North American Charging Standard (NACS) pioneered by Tesla, it may provide a boost in fast-charging satisfaction among owners of EVs from other brands as they begin to use Tesla’s Supercharger stations. We’re monitoring whether the use of Tesla Superchargers by non-Tesla owners will affect satisfaction, but the move does help address charger scarcity and offer access to industry-leading reliable chargers.”
Brent Gruber, JD Power’s Executive Director of the EV practice
Remarkably, 2023 is already the third consecutive year the Tesla Supercharger network dominated JD Power’s study rankings. It is also the sole DC fast charger brand to achieve a customer satisfaction rating higher than the segment average of 654 points.
ChargePoint followed Tesla with 606 points (down 133 points). EVgo ranked third with 569 points, while Electrify America got 538 points.
See Also:
- White House offers Tesla Superchargers subsidies but on one condition
- Ford EVs to have access to Tesla Superchargers in 2024
- Select Tesla Superchargers to provide recharging to non-Tesla EVs in Australia
- Tesla Superchargers charging rates significantly increase in Europe
- Tesla Superchargers dominate charging experience satisfaction, a problem for future competitors
Establishing sufficient and reliable EV charging infrastructures in the US will undoubtedly aid its electrification and net-zero emission targets. Automakers, charging companies, and the government must constantly improve their current networks to ensure customer satisfaction, just like Tesla does.
