The growing electric vehicle marketplace has encountered rising electricity rates due in part to inflation, resulting in lower satisfaction with home charging, according to the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience Home Charging Study. More than two-thirds (68%) of EV owners use a Level 2 permanently mounted station, but their overall satisfaction declines 12 points year over year to 740 (on a 1,000-point scale).

While Level 2 portable and Level 2 permanently mounted charging stations are utilized by 83% of all users, their satisfaction with the cost of charging declines from the 2022 study by more than 30 points in each segment.

Also driving down overall satisfaction in the study is speed for all three home charging segments. The 2023 study finds that owners of 2022 and 2023 model EVs are less satisfied with their home charging speed (605 and 597, respectively) than owners of 2021 model EVs (616) and 2020 model EVs (608).

Satisfaction is measured across eight factors: fairness of retail price; cord length; size of charger; ease of winding/storing cable; cost of charging; charging speed; ease of use; and reliability. These factors provide a comprehensive assessment of the owner experience and charger performance.

Following are key findings of the 2023 study:

• As electricity rates increase, educating owners becomes more critical: Just 51% of EV owners say they are knowledgeable about utility company programs for charging their vehicle at home, which is up slightly from 49% a year ago. “Customers are looking to utility companies to help manage rising costs,” said Adrian Chung, director of utilities intelligence at J.D. Power. 
• Scheduling charge time increases satisfaction: More than one-third (35%) of owners say they always schedule a time to charge their vehicle at home, while 49% do not use any scheduling. Among those choosing to schedule home charging via an app, satisfaction is highest when using the vehicle mobile app (739) rather than the charger mobile app (706).
• Geography makes a difference with charging satisfaction: Overall satisfaction with Level 2 home charging is lower in all nine regions in this year’s study than a year ago, with New England having the largest decline of 27 points.
• Home charging game changer: Satisfaction improves 179 points when moving up from a Level 1 portable charger (561) to a Level 2 permanently mounted charger (740). Across the eight factors in the study, owner satisfaction is higher in seven factors once the switch is made to a Level 2 permanently mounted charger, especially with charging speed (+373 points).

The study examines the home charging experience of EV owners across all three charger segments, but only the Level 2 permanently mounted charging station segment is award eligible.