Is Public EV Charging Infrastructure Making Progress?
E-Vision Intelligence Report
December 2024
Key Findings
- Customer Satisfaction with Public Charging Declines in Third Quarter: Customer satisfaction with public DC Fast Charging (DCFC) and public Level 2 charging networks fell sharply in the third quarter of 2024, logging the largest quarterly decline in customer satisfaction since the third quarter of 2021.
- Tesla Supercharger Network Strains Under Weight of Non-Tesla Users: Tesla’s proprietary charging (Supercharger) network has consistently been the largest and most reliable fast charging network in the country. Starting in 2024, more than a dozen major EV manufacturers adopted Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), allowing non-Tesla vehicles to use the Supercharger network, which has caused an overall decline in customer satisfaction with the Tesla network. The declines are most pronounced among non-Tesla users.
- Location, Location, Location: Among the biggest drivers of low customer satisfaction scores are lack of things to do at the charging station and ease of charging. Overall reliability and customer experience with public charging varies widely by provider, with the top-performing brands delivering 90% or higher charging success rates, where nearly all station visitors can successfully charge their vehicle. However, the lowest-performing provider sees visitors successfully charging just 58% of the time.
Executive Summary
Whether EV range anxiety is justified or not, the top stumbling block to more widespread EV adoption has consistently been concerns with the availability and reliability of public charging stations. Recent efforts to address this issue have included expanded access to Tesla’s Supercharger network—the largest and most reliable EV charging network in the United States—to non-Tesla vehicles, and heavy investment into the expansion of EV charging infrastructure, through government initiatives like the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program.
Are these efforts succeeding at improving the average EV owner’s experience with public charging? According to the latest data from JD Power, the answer is no.
This E-Vision Intelligence Report dives into key data points trending in each monthly JD Power EV Index update, along with other data points gathered from JD Power studies and pulse surveys, to offer a data-driven consumer perspective on the public charging customer experience.
Customer Satisfaction with Public Charging Declines
Customer satisfaction with DCFC and public Level 2 EV charging fell 21 and 15 points (on a 1,000-point scale), respectively, in Q3 2024, the largest single quarter decline in customer satisfaction in the past three years. The overall customer satisfaction score for DCFC was 643, the lowest level observed to date. Overall customer satisfaction with Level 2 charging was 602, the second-lowest level to date.
Expanded Access to Tesla Superchargers Creates Drag on Satisfaction
The primary cause of the significant quarterly decline in customer satisfaction with DCFC has been the expansion of the Tesla Supercharger network to non-Tesla brands. While the Supercharger network still maintains the highest satisfaction scores of any other DCFC provider, overall customer satisfaction fell 51 points in Q3 2024. This decline was driven by non-Tesla owners using Supercharger stations. The average overall satisfaction score for a Tesla owner using a Supercharger station was 749. That score fell to 671 among non-Tesla owners using the same Supercharger stations.
It is important to note, however, that although overall customer satisfaction with Supercharger stations was lower for non-Tesla owners than Telsa owners, Supercharger still outperformed non-Supercharger DCFC stations by 82 points among non-Telsa owners. Ultimately, what appears to be occurring in real-world use cases is that Supercharger continues to offer superior coverage and reliability, but the higher cost and less streamlined user experience for non-Telsa owners has created a drag on overall Supercharger satisfaction scores.
Results May Vary
One of the big question marks around EV infrastructure is the future of the DOT’s NEVI program, which provides funding to states to strategically deploy EV charging stations and to establish an interconnected network to facilitate data collection, access and reliability. Two key variables that will heavily influence the future of that program will be the strategic location of the charge points themselves, and the provider selected. In Q3 2024, the biggest drags on customer satisfaction were lack of things to do at the charging station, difficulty charging and speed of charging.
Public charging reliability remains a challenge for the industry. Overall, 19% of visits to public chargers in Q3 resulted in a failed attempt to charge the vehicle. Charging success rates varied widely by provider, however. Top-performing brands such as Tesla’s Supercharger network and Electrify America delivered 90% or higher success rates, while the worst-performing brands executed a successful charge between 58% and 61% of the time.
Methodology
This JD Power E-Vision Intelligence Report is based on data and insights from the JD Power EV Index, the JD Power EV Retail Share Forecast, the JD Power 2024 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Ownership Study,SM the JD Power 2023 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Public Charging StudySM and the JD Power U.S. Electric Vehicle Consideration (EVC) Study.SM The JD Power EV Index is an analytics tool to benchmark the growing EV market in the United States. It tracks millions of data points aggregated into six categories—interest, availability, adoption, affordability, infrastructure and experience—to evaluate the progress to parity of EVs with gas-powered vehicles in the U.S. Each month, the JD Power electric vehicle practice will analyze these data points, and others to spotlight emerging trends and important shifts in consumer sentiment that are helping to define the fast-moving EV marketplace.
Find out More
This report was authored by Elizabeth Krear, vice president, electric vehicle practice; Brent Gruber, executive director, electric vehicle practice; and Kristen Richter, senior manager, electric vehicle practice. The JD Power E-Vision initiative is a company-wide program focused on maximizing JD Power industry-leading EV data, analytics, insights and solutions. Please contact us at the numbers below to connect with the authors or to learn more about the underlying research.
Media Contacts
Shane Smith; East Coast; 424-903-3665; [email protected]
Geno Effler, JD Power; West Coast; 714-621-6224; [email protected]