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SEARCHStudy finds that adopters are true believers and that their satisfaction with the vehicles is growing, including for public charger experience, despite pullback of federal incentives.
Satisfaction with the availability of public EV chargers increased last year and is the most improved metric in the study.
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Electric vehicles may have taken a hit in the U.S. with the end of the federal tax credit for purchases and leases, but those who already have one are more satisfied with electric than ever.
The dominant experience was captured in J.D. Power’s annual EV ownership experience study, which found 96% of battery-electric vehicle owners would consider another BEV for their next trade, the highest satisfaction level in the study’s six years.
“Improvements in battery technology, charging infrastructure and overall vehicle performance have driven customer satisfaction to its highest level ever,” said Brent Gruber, director of J.D. Power’s EV practice, pointing out that even consumers who didn’t benefit from the tax credit expressed satisfaction.
The company and EV driver application maker and research firm PlugShare conducted the survey of more than 5,700 owners of 2025 and 2026 BEVs and plug-in hybrid EVs, or PHEVs. BEVs are purely electric and have no gas engine, while PHEVs have a gas engine and a battery charged through a plug.
BEVs brought more consumer satisfaction than PHEVs, according to the study results. The former scored 114 points higher in the premium segment and 117 points higher in the mass-market segment, respectively, than their PHEV counterparts.
J.D. Power attributes the difference to lower maintenance needs of BEVs due to their absence of gas engines. At the same time, BEV consumers reported fewer problems in their vehicles this year, reflecting growing maturity in the segment also seen in marked public charger satisfaction improvement.
Still, satisfaction rose for both power trains and for premium and mass-market consumers. The premium average BEV satisfaction score rose from 756 to 786, while the average mass-market BEV score rose from 725 to 727.
Meanwhile, the average premium PHEV satisfaction score was up from 741 to 756, and the mass-market score jumped from 632 to 658.
Among models, EV maker Tesla topped both overall and premium-segment BEV satisfaction with its Model 3, followed in second place by Model Y and the BMW i4 in third.
Ford bested the mass-market BEV segment with its Mustang Mach-E. In second is the Hyundai Ioniq 6, followed by the Kia EV9. No PHEV was eligible for an award.
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