Americans love Tesla wall chargers – and charging at home – study

Charging at home is the most satisfying part of owning an EV, and Tesla’s wall-mounted charger is still the US favorite, according to a new study from J.D. Power.

Public charging infrastructure may still be expanding and experiencing growing pains, but EV owners are pretty satisfied with their charging at home experience, according to auto data and analytics firm J.D. Power’s new “2024 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Home Charging Study,” which was conducted with PlugShare.

The study examined the home charging experience of EV owners across all three charger segments – Level 1 portable chargers, Level 2 portable chargers, and Level 2 wall-mounted home chargers.

When it came to brand preference and satisfaction, the study only looked at Level 2 wall-mounted home chargers. Tesla’s wall-mounted Level 2 charger ranks highest for a fourth consecutive year, scoring 790 on a 1,000-point scale. Emporia (764) ranks second, and GRIZZL-E (761) ranks third.

Although Level 1 portable charger satisfaction improved 20 points, the gap between it and Level 2 wall-mounted charging stations is still considerable, at 581 vs. 744, respectively, because of charging speed. (That’s not really a huge surprise.) Overall satisfaction with Level 2 portable chargers is 735.

Combined, Level 2 portable and Level 2 wall-mounted charging stations are used by 84% of all EV owners who charge their EV at home. And while everyone’s pretty content, the most common problem that arises among owners is that the wifi connection either doesn’t work or is difficult to use. 

When it came to utility programs, 49% of EV owners said they were unaware of the programs offered by their electric utility, and 18% said their electric utility didn’t offer any programs.

Yet among Level 2 charger owners who use financial incentives for installation, satisfaction is notably higher for the cost of charging (+18 points) and fairness of retail price (+15) than those who don’t use incentives.

Brent Gruber, executive director of the EV practice at J.D. Power, said:

Incentives and programs are… available to offset the cost of charger installations, upgrades, and management of ongoing charging costs, but too few EV shoppers are taking advantage of these offerings.

The industry needs to do a much better job with consumer education and awareness, and dealers are certainly in the best position to fill that role at a local level.

Read more: This small curbside EV charger can deliver 200 miles of range in 13 minutes

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