Charging satisfaction at both Level 2 chargers and Level 3 chargers declined in nearly every category of the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience Public Charging Study released Wednesday. J.D. launched the study in 2021.
Satisfaction with Level 2 charging declined to an average of 617 on a 1,000-point scale, 16 points lower than a year ago. Level 2 chargers, which take several hours to power a battery, are typically used at home or work or to top off during daily activities, such as shopping or dining at a restaurant.
Satisfaction with Level 3, or fast chargers, sunk 20 points to an average 654. Fast chargers can take 20 minutes to restore power to 80 percent and are typically used when a driver is traveling long distances and the battery is depleted or won’t get the car to the destination. It’s often a planned charging stop.
Tesla earned the highest fast-charging satisfaction score at 739. Tesla was the only company to score above average. For Level 2 charging, Volta ranked best at 665, followed by Tesla at 661.
The study was fielded in collaboration with PlugShare, an EV driver app maker and research firm. More than 15,000 owners of battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles participated from January through June 2023.
The study measures satisfaction in 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; and ease of payment.
