Both EV charging network availability and customer satisfaction with the charging situation are gradually improving, according to the latest research reported in the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Public Charging Study.
“The industry is on the right track despite continued challenges” according to the Study, though the increase in the number of operational charging states is still slower than the growth in EV sales, contributing to ongoing insufficient charging availability.
While satisfaction with Level 2 public chargers fell by 3 points to 614 out of 1,000 year-over-year, EV owners seem more pleased with Level 3 DC fast chargers. The satisfaction score for Level 3 public chargers was 654 in summer 2023 and rose to 664 a year later in summer 2024. This change is mostly ascribed to Tesla Supercharger network chargers being opened up to all comers and not just Tesla vehicles.
J.D. Power executive electric vehicle director Brent Gruber found a silver lining in the falling satisfaction of EV owners with Level 2 chargers as well. He remarked that “among users of Level 2 chargers, satisfaction improves in five of the 10 factors that make up overall satisfaction.” The more positive reactions to Level 2 chargers, he says, is partly because of “the convenience of having other things to do during longer Level 2 charging sessions.”
Last year’s study showed disgruntled EV owners increasingly dissatisfied with available electric vehicle charging. This year’s shows a modest, but persistent reversal of the trend, at least for the first two quarters of 2024. Gruber noted that “DC fast charger speed is an important area of progress for the industry this year.”
Availability of automatic payments rather than needing to enter credit card information – which adds an average 8 minutes to the typical 27-minute fast charging session – is also extremely popular and more available for 2024.
Meanwhile, GM EV sales in America skyrocketed 42 percent year-over-year for Q2 2024, achieving 21,930 units sold. The most popular models, accounting for most of the growth, were the Cadillac Lyriq, the GMC Hummer EV Pickup, and the GMC Hummer EV SUV.
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Comments
I can say from a good amount of the people who’ve stopped and use the DC fast we were required to install (by GM for dealer EV standards), about 50% of the users we had initially were those waiting on Level 2 installs at their homes. And this was from all makes and models that were using it.
So I wonder once things settle down in terms of homeowners having chargers installed or using home charging more, what the rate of use of the DC fasts will end up at. I think it will mostly settle out to those on road trips/travel.
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END, I guess….
As far as I’m aware, only the 2023 BOLT EV, EUV, and 2023 and 2024 LYRIQs come with either a $500 free fast charging EVGO credit, or for the 2023-2024 LYRIQ, a 2 year unlimited credit at EVGO stations.
The unlimited credit works only at EVGO stations (partner ChargePoint won’t honor them),
Looks like the Equinox EV, Blazer EV, any HUMMER EV, and the OPTIQ or any future Cadillac or Chevy won’t get anything besides a free charging cord, meaning anything coming out in the 2025 model year won’t have anything, nor have any QMERIT receptacle assistance, which was $1,250 for the BOLTs and $1,500 for the 2023-2024 LYRIQs, that is, if the free fast charging credit was unwanted..
SOME of the foreign competitors are offering either EVGO or Electrify America credits. It will be interesting to see if this competitive ‘Shaming’ will force GM to reopen the program, but I’d doubt it.
I’ have excellent experience with my Cadillac Lyriq when I use EVgo chargers. I’m signed up on EVgo app for Autocharge. The charging starts immediately when I plug in.
I also have good experience with ChargePoint and Electrify America. I’ve taken six 1,000+ mile road trips this year and DC fast charging has worked great.
Best charging stations are EVgo at Flying J / Pilot. They are pull through with a roof cover.
Gar: I’m glad to hear you have a better experience than I do. My Bolt came with the $500 card for EVgo and I’ve used less than $75.00 of it over the 5 months so far. Of the EVgo stations near where I live, most are broken and don’t work. There’s two level 3 at the Arco across the street that are newer and work fine. However, they are often blocked with ICE vehicles. Another one about a mile away is littered with trash and not well lit at night, so I stopped going there. Another near my kids school has 3 fast chargers, one of which has never worked that I know of and the other two are always being used. Lastly, there’s the EVgo at a mall near my house with 2 level 3’s and about 15 level 2 chargers. It was nice to go there and walk around and/or eat while charging. However, as of my last visit there, 13 of the level 2’s were broken and one of the DC fast chargers was down.
I finally said to heck with it because there’s nothing better than plugging in and going in my house and forgetting it’s even there. I love my home charger.
My excellent EVgo experience has been at selected EVgo locations in San Antonio. Houston, Austin, Ardmore,OK, Joplin and Kansas City. One must choose carefully as there certainly are older EVgo chargers that don’t work as well. I road trip and plan to use EVgo as I have 2 years free on my 2024 Lyriq. At home I have a charger in my garage.
Charging station etiquette is very important. Most EV drivers seem to be quite courteous, but there are exceptions. Flying J / Pilot pull through EVgo allow everyone to easily position their car regardless of where their cars’s charging port is. Easy vehicle positioning can help solve station driver etiquette issues.
I love my Bolt EV and won’t go back to ICE for any reason. I also love my home level 2 charger. And yet, I HATE public chargers at this point. They suck. The experience sucks, and those of us who love our EV’s need to fess up to the bad experiences of broken chargers and dirty spaces and dark “out back” charger locations that seem to have been a total after-thought. We need to recognize that this type of experiences won’t help win over non-EV people.
But it extends beyond the dark areas that are dirty and often broken. Some of the bad comes from ignorant and rude ICE drivers who seem to hate anything EV. These people want to create the most negative experience they can, I guess in hopes that it will deter others from buying EV’s??? Not sure. Just yesterday I had one of these. There’s (one of very few in my area) a free EVgo level 2 charger next to a McDonalds that we go to. As I was pulling into the lot, one of the two spaces marked for EV only was open. However, just as quickly as I could go, some guy in a Subaru decided he wanted that space even though there were TWO open spaces closer to the building!! By the time he was getting out, I was behind him and put my window down and asked (politely) if he would be willing to park in one of the other two spaces. All he said in a rude way was that he was picking up and wouldn’t move his car. Thankfully he was back out in less than two minutes and I was able to park and charge while eating. And that is why I hate public charging.
My question is why. Why??? Why did this guy feel the need to take up a dedicated EV space when two spaces were closer to the building?
I think the EV craze has passed, not hearing much about them anymore and I’m not really seeing any new ones around. Bidum built 9 chargers out of the 500k that he promised us in the New Green Scam legislation. Oh well, I never wanted one anyway.
And there you have it folks. Mel just reported directly from fake news nation.
Ok, sarcasm aside Mel, what rock have you been living under? Click on nearly any news site on your computer and EV news (good or bad) is everywhere. EV sales are breaking records (I know, it’s not what Fox news is saying, but……………….). EV development is at break neck speed. And yes, that “story” about Biden and only 9 chargers have been built was fake news. But let’s go with it for a second. You have states that are refusing infrastructure money to install chargers. You have many chargers that have been built/installed already with many more in the works. You don’t just blink an eye and these things are up and running. You have to get the money committed, permits, schedule the work, etc, etc. On top of that, we have a real shortage of trained (skilled) workers who are able and qualified to do the work. These are very good paying jobs just waiting to be filled and yet they can’t fill them because the lazy people who would rather stare at a screen all day.
The days of sending off your kin to the coal mines are gone. Working the very dangerous oil rigs and oil fields are thankfully going away slowly. Clean energy is the future and the USA can be a leader or fall behind once again.
Electricians? Plenty of them around here.
While you are at it look up EV sales, they are declining year over year as I stated. That what happens when the government tries to drive and control the market, it doesn’t work in America.
Yes EV development is at breakneck speed- that’s why the Orion plant is sitting idle collecting dust, and why Ford canned it’s 3-row SUV, and why gm cancelled the small EV pickup and large van….
Look it up, the Federal Highway Administration says as of mid-August (last week), 15 charging stations have been built. So, you need to get some real news and stop listening to State News that tells you what the government wants you to know. As for EV sales, outside of Kalifornia, EV’s are a tough sell and are being severely discounted to sell. Haven’t you heard that even Tesla’s prices have been reduced by thousands of dollars. Most of the people who want an EV already have it. I don’t know anyone who wants one.