Photo: Tesla | Edited
EV owners are proud that they can charge their cars at home overnight, thus waking up every day to a full “tank.” But as more people buy electric vehicles, more complain of a sub-par home charging experience. According to a JD Power study, one of the reasons is the limited charging education of the new EV owners.
Most EV owners charge at home, but many are unsatisfied with the charging experience. Increased electricity rates and lack of charging education can explain this. People tend to have unrealistic expectations about charge duration and know little about charger discounts and other incentives offered by utility companies.
According to a JD Power study, most EV owners use a faster Level 2 charger. Their overall satisfaction, however, declined 12 points, to 740 (on a 1,000-point scale), compared to 2022 results. The biggest gripe for EV owners is the cost of charging, as the electricity rates skyrocketed in the past year. This has caused the satisfaction with the cost of charging to decline by more than 30 points compared to the 2022 study.
As electricity rates increase, education becomes more important. Only half of EV owners admit they know about utility company programs for home charging. The number of owners who always schedule charging times to reduce costs is even lower, at around 35 percent. JD Power’s study shows that scheduling can greatly improve satisfaction, especially for people who use the EV’s rather than the charger’s mobile app.
The speed of charging is also driving down the overall satisfaction level. The study finds that owners of 2022 and 2023 model years are less satisfied with their home charging speed (605 and 597, respectively) than owners of 2021 and 2020 model EVs (616 and 608, respectively). The home charging experience index sees a marked improvement for those that upgraded from a slower Level 1 charger (561) to a faster Level 2 permanently mounted charger (740).
JD Power also ranked the Level 2 permanently mounted charging stations, with the Tesla chargers ranking the highest, with a score of 790. GRIZZL-E (757) ranks second, and Emporia (754) ranks third, while the segment average is 740. Owners using charging solutions provided by legacy carmakers fare worse, with Ford at 699 and Chevrolet at 683. This might have less to do with the performance of these Level 2 chargers and more with expectations. As owners of these EVs come from ICE vehicles, they are less likely to be satisfied with the charging experience, especially when they lack EV education.
JD Power 2023 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Home Charging Study measured home charging satisfaction across eight factors: cost of charging, charging speed, fairness of retail price, cord length, size of charger, ease of winding/storing cable, ease of use, and reliability. The study involved nearly 14,000 owners of 2017-2023 model-year EVs and plug-in hybrids.
According to a JD Power study, most EV owners use a faster Level 2 charger. Their overall satisfaction, however, declined 12 points, to 740 (on a 1,000-point scale), compared to 2022 results. The biggest gripe for EV owners is the cost of charging, as the electricity rates skyrocketed in the past year. This has caused the satisfaction with the cost of charging to decline by more than 30 points compared to the 2022 study.
As electricity rates increase, education becomes more important. Only half of EV owners admit they know about utility company programs for home charging. The number of owners who always schedule charging times to reduce costs is even lower, at around 35 percent. JD Power’s study shows that scheduling can greatly improve satisfaction, especially for people who use the EV’s rather than the charger’s mobile app.
The speed of charging is also driving down the overall satisfaction level. The study finds that owners of 2022 and 2023 model years are less satisfied with their home charging speed (605 and 597, respectively) than owners of 2021 and 2020 model EVs (616 and 608, respectively). The home charging experience index sees a marked improvement for those that upgraded from a slower Level 1 charger (561) to a faster Level 2 permanently mounted charger (740).
JD Power also ranked the Level 2 permanently mounted charging stations, with the Tesla chargers ranking the highest, with a score of 790. GRIZZL-E (757) ranks second, and Emporia (754) ranks third, while the segment average is 740. Owners using charging solutions provided by legacy carmakers fare worse, with Ford at 699 and Chevrolet at 683. This might have less to do with the performance of these Level 2 chargers and more with expectations. As owners of these EVs come from ICE vehicles, they are less likely to be satisfied with the charging experience, especially when they lack EV education.
JD Power 2023 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Home Charging Study measured home charging satisfaction across eight factors: cost of charging, charging speed, fairness of retail price, cord length, size of charger, ease of winding/storing cable, ease of use, and reliability. The study involved nearly 14,000 owners of 2017-2023 model-year EVs and plug-in hybrids.
Google News