Although electric vehicle owners have the benefit of being able to charge at home, they still need to top up on road. As the vehicle type becomes more popular, satisfaction with the options for charging EVs in public keeps getting lower.
The latest J.D. Power U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience study finds that overall satisfaction with America’s charging infrastructure is the lowest it has been since it started conducting the study in 2021.
“The declining customer satisfaction scores for public charging should be concerning to automakers,” said Brent Gruber, the executive director of EV practice at J.D. Power. “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.”
Read: CATL Unveils New Battery That Can Add 248 Miles Of Range In Just 10 Minutes
Overall satisfaction with America’s Level 2 charging stations has declined by 16 points as compared to a year ago, to 617 out of a possible 1,000 points in 2023. Charging speeds at these stations was the biggest issue for EV drivers, and satisfaction with that metric has fallen 36 points this year.
The news is even worse for DC fast-charging stations, where overall satisfaction fell to 654 points, down 20 from a year ago. There, too, drivers are unhappy with charging speeds, as the score for the metric fell 30 points.
That is, drivers are unhappy with the speed of their charge when they can get one at all. Roughly 20 percent of all users surveyed by J.D. Power said they had visited a charging station and failed to get any power into their battery due to a station outage or long lines.
Data suggests that some of these issues could be solved by better placement of charging stations. Whereas most people want a fast-charge while they are on a road trip, they’re normally okay with a slower, Level 2 charge when they are, say, at the mall. By planning charging stations for how customers are likely to use them, the whole system could become more efficient.
There’s good news on the horizon, though. With Tesla’s Superchargers opening up to more automakers (and vice versa), drivers will have more charging options than ever. That’s better news for non-Tesla drivers because satisfaction at the company’s charging stations remains much higher.
Although Volta led the way in terms of Level 2 charger satisfaction, Tesla came in second and topped the DC fast charger rankings.
