For the second year in a row Tesla has easily beat the competition in the J.D. Power Electric Vehicle Experience – Public Charging Satisfaction Study.
The study, conducted in collaboration with PlugShare, measures EV owners’ level of satisfaction in public charging infrastructure at both Level 2 chargers and DC fast chargers.
Between January and June 2022, a total of 11,554 owners were surveyed and asked questions about their satisfaction in 10 key areas:
- ease of charging
- speed of charging
- cost of charging
- ease of payment
- ease of finding this location
- convenience of this location
- things to do while charging
- how safe you feel at this location
- availability of chargers
- cleanliness of this location
When it comes to DC fast chargers, the Supercharger network trounced the other networks, earning a score of 739 out of a possible 1,000. That was well above the next highest-rated network, ChargePoint, which came in second with a score of 644.
Electrify America came in third (614), with EVgo placing last with a score of 573.
Only Tesla topped the segment average of 674. In fact, without Tesla the segment average would have been dragged much lower to 610.
The results were were a little bit closer for Level 2 charging networks, but Tesla’s Destination charger network also came out on top with a score of 680. Volta came in second place (667), followed by Chargepoint (639), SemaConnect (577), and Blink (560). The segment average was 633.
Along with the network ratings, J.D. Power said their findings show that in areas with high EV adoption, like California, Texas, and Washington, charging infrastructure is inadequate and often out of order.
“Public charging continues to provide challenges to overall EV adoption and current EV owners alike. 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,” said Brent Gruber, executive director of global automotive at J.D. Power.
The study also found that the cost of charging is still a major barrier, more so for DC fast chargers which scored 473 for that attribute. Level 2 chargers were even lower at 446.
Additionally, the study found the biggest difference between EV owners who use DC fast chargers are planners. Compared to those who use Level 2 chargers, which cite convenience and price as reasons for selecting a charging station, those who use DC fast chargers say location and convenience determine their choice.
