EV Owner Satisfaction Continues To Grow, With Tesla Leading The Way

• JD Power’s Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Ownership Study shows that EV owner satisfaction is up across the board.
• The firm points to improved reliability for cars and better access to charging stations as the reason for the increase. 
• The Tesla Model 3 and Model Y are the most satisfying cars to own, according to the study.

Once you go EV, you really don’t go back. It’s not hard to see why, either—living with an EV is actually a lot less complicated than you’d think, even without the benefits of a level 2 home charger. These things are fast, easy to drive and low maintenance. 

This isn’t just me acting as an EV advocate, either.  Recently, JD Power announced the results of its annual Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Ownership Study, and things are looking up. Charging satisfaction is up over last year, and overall satisfaction among EV owners has hit its highest level in the study’s history. 

Brent Gruber, executive director of the EV practice at JD Power, says that’s for good reason. In essence, automakers across the board have improved the whole EV driving and ownership experience. 

“Improvements in battery technology, charging infrastructure and overall vehicle performance have driven customer satisfaction to its highest level ever,” wrote Gruber said in a statement. Because of this, the vast majority of survey respondents—96%—said they’d still consider buying another EV despite the elimination of widespread EV tax credit incentives. 

JD Power’s owner satisfaction is rated on a 1,000-point scale across ten categories. The categories are as follows: availability of public charging stations, battery range, cost of ownership, driving enjoyment, ease of charging at home, interior and exterior styling, safety and technology features, service experience and vehicle quality and reliability. 

For 2026, the Tesla Model 3 is the EV that has the highest satisfaction among its owners, clocking in a score of 804. The Model Y is not far behind at 797, while the BMW i4 and iX are next, at 795 and 794, respectively. When it comes to mainstream EVs, the Ford Mustang Mach-E is at 760, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 is at 746, while the Kia EV9 scored 745. 

Perhaps most importantly, overall average satisfaction across all EV models is up. This year, the average score is 786, up from 756 in 2025’s study. Plug-in hybrid satisfaction is up to 658 from 632 of last year, but it’s still way behind EV satisfaction. 

Improving attitudes toward public charging infrastructure had a big impact on this year’s numbers, JD Power says. The category has seen great strides among mainstream and premium EV owners, with the two market segments clocking in at 652 and 511, up 101 and 115 points, respectively. JD Power attributes the boost to the strides EV charging infrastructure made in 2025—namely, the fact that nearly every modern EV brand now has access to the Tesla Supercharging network. 

Photo by: Suvrat Kothari

The expanded access cuts both ways. The new business from non-Tesla brands was once a pain point for Tesla drivers who felt crowded, but JD Power says that Tesla drivers are starting to acclimate. 

Improvement in quality and reliability was also a big reason for the increased EV satisfaction, too. In particular, EV models from premium brands dropped to 75 problems per 100 vehicles, an improvement of 15.9 per 100 vehicles. By comparison, mainstream EVs are at 92.2 problems per 100 vehicles. Keep in mind, this is not just any sort of catastrophic mechanical failures, but also the infotainment or ADAS features that don’t always work right. It also includes any interior squeaks or rattles.

Despite word of an EV apocalypse in the U.S., I think these numbers really do prove that EV owners are generally satisfied with what the cars have to offer. And, as the cars themselves and the charging infrastructure continue to get better, satisfaction will likely continue to grow.

Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com 

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