One of the biggest sticking points among new vehicle shoppers considering EVs is the lack of an adequate charging infrastructure, and that doesn’t just mean there aren’t enough physical chargers, but rather, many users experience their fair share of issues with them, too. Thus, it’s not terribly surprising that the Tesla Supercharger network continues to rank as a superior option versus other third-party networks in various studies. That includes back-to-back first place finishes in J.D. Power’s U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Public Charging Study, which wasn’t quite as kind to Ford partner Electrify America.
In fact, Electrify America ranked dead last in the latest version of the EVX study with a score of 559 out of 1,000 possible points – far behind Tesla’s Supercharger network at 731, followed by ChargePoint (627) and EVgo (566). Regardless, there are signs that this situation is improving, as overall satisfaction increased by 10 points year-over-year. Electrify America, specifically – which provides a select amount of free charging for Ford F-150 Lightning and Ford Mustang Mach-E owners – has vastly improved the reliability of its chargers in recent months, but there’s still work to be done.
“While the customer satisfaction scores for public charging continue to prompt concern, the results offer reasons for optimism,” said Brent Gruber, executive director of the EV practice at J.D. Power. “Among users of Level 2 chargers, satisfaction improves in five of the 10 factors that make up overall satisfaction, and among DC fast charger users, satisfaction is up in six of the 10 categories. In addition, the overall indices have improved for the past two quarters. This indicates progress in many areas that EV owners care about, like the speed and availability of fast chargers and the convenience of having other things to do during longer Level 2 charging sessions.”
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Comments
Sure things are going to improve for Electrify America their going to not let you charge past 85% then start charging you large idle fees. Another good reason to avoid EVs.
That limit is imposed at only 10 heavily trafficked charging stations where there are often people waiting. Past 80% on most EVs, the car lowers the charge rate considerably to protect the battery. So going 80->100% can sometimes take longer than going 20->80%. Plus, it’s not good for the battery in the long run to charge it past 80%.
There may be valid reasons to “avoid” EVs. This isn’t one. It’s kind of silly actually.
I charged up my Ioniq 6 today at EA. There was never anyone waiting for a charger. It went from a 26% SoC to 80% in around 15 minutes, peaking at 238 kw. I was able to shop at an adjacent grocery store while the car charged.
No complaints.