Electric vehicle owners are becoming increasingly frustrated about the state of public EV charging, with drivers complaining of broken chargers, janky software, and smashed screens.
The Verge reports that electric vehicle owners are complaining about the state of public EV charging, including issues of broken chargers, janky software, and smashed screens. JD Power surveyed 11,554 electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners from January through June 2022 as part of its second annual Electric Vehicle Experience Public Charging Study.
The firm measured customer satisfaction with EV charging on a 1,000-point scale. The survey found that satisfaction with charging at a public Level 2 charger is worse than it was last year. In 2022, satisfaction in Level 2 charging dropped to 633 from 643 in 2021, while satisfaction with the faster DC (direct current) chargers remains flat at 674.
Brent Gruber, executive director of global automotive at JD Power, said: “Not only is the availability of public charging still an obstacle, but EV owners continue to be faced with charging station equipment that is inoperable.”
One out of every five respondents to the survey said that they ended up unable to charge their vehicle after finding a public charger. 72 percent of respondents indicated that this was due to the station being out of service or failing.
Across the U.S. there are approximately 41,000 public charging stations with more than 100,000 outlets. Tesla ranks near the top for customer satisfaction with its wall-mounted Level 2 chargers that are more often found in parking garages and hotels. These ranked with a score of 680 out of 1,000. Tesla’s Supercharger network also received the highest rank among DC fast chargers with a score of 739.
Customers ranked Volta second behind Tesla with a score of 667. ChargePoint third with 639, SemaConnect fourth with 557, and Blink in fifth place with a score of 560.
Read more at the Verge here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan