US. DC Fast Charging Is Getting Better. But Level 2 Is Getting Worse

A public charging study by JD Power shows consistent improvement in charging experience this year, but the results are more nuanced than they appear.

According to JD Power, charging infrastructure is improving overall. For two consecutive quarters this year, things have improved on the macro level.

Consumers are more satisfied with DC fast charging than last year.

Consumers are less satisfied with public level 2 charging compared to last year.

Faith in America’s charging infrastructure remains one of the biggest roadblocks to mass EV adoption. But there’s been a lot of behind-the-scenes work to improve things. Tesla Superchargers will soon be open to virtually every brand, and federal funding for charging infrastructure is starting to enter the system—at least into most parts of it.

This means the charging infrastructure has nowhere to go but up, right? According to JD Power’s Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Public Charging Study, things are a little more complicated than they appear at first glance. Things are better, but they’re also a little bit worse.

JD Power noticed that public satisfaction with EV charging infrastructure has improved, but that’s not the complete story.

A conversation with JD Power’s Brent Gruber, the Executive Director of JD Power’s Electric Vehicle Practice, reveals that we can’t just celebrate yet because there are still some issues and concerning trends that could hold EV adoption back.

Overall, DC Charging Satisfaction is Up, But Supercharging Is Slipping

It may be hard to square this with what we’ve experienced in person, but consumer satisfaction with DC fast charging is up this year. On a 1,000-point scale, DC fast charging is at 664, up 10 points compared to 2023.

Part of this is attributed to the fact that reliability and speed have improved as newer, more reliable, and more capable DC fast charging stalls enter service daily. Speed-related satisfaction jumped dramatically, from 588 in 2023 to 622 this year.

JD Power’s study also insists that part of the reason for the jump is that Tesla Supercharging is now opening up to other makes and models. The Superchargers already have a vastly higher score than the standard score (731) compared to non-Tesla DC fast charging. Starting this year, Ford and Rivian now have access, and the brand was able to quantify the user experiences Ford and Rivian drivers have on Tesla Supercharging.

Owners love the speeds and the ease of use. But, interestingly, Gruber admitted that standard DC fast charging’s satisfaction isn’t all that great, so the movement could be interpreted as a bad experience getting a little better. Also, non-Tesla owners’ satisfaction with Tesla Supercharging was rated at 704, lower than with Tesla Supercharging Tesla owners, even if satisfaction is higher than standard DC fast charging.

I asked Gruber if the Tesla Supercharging network’s perception has changed since Musk decided to gut the whole Tesla branch completely. The answer was sort of yes, but it’s unclear if Musk’s policies are directly to blame. Satisfaction with Tesla supercharging has slipped a bit, largely due to complaints about charger availability.

Now that other brands can use Superchargers (at least in Magic Dock form until more open up to other owners), there is less room for Tesla owners who liked—or needed—the exclusivity. Gruber insists that complaints of overcrowding of the Supercharging network were growing well before any other brands could use the network.

Interestingly, Gruber does say that JD Power noticed a steady uptick in non-charge EV visits at Tesla Supercharging stations. A non-charge EV visit is when an EV driver plugs in, but for some reason, the car will not charge for any number of issues.“For a long time, that number held at 4%, but now it has risen to 6%,” Gruber said in an interview. It is still significantly better than non-Tesla branded DC fast chargers, which sit at 19%, slightly better than the 20% from 2023.

DC Fast Charging Excels At The Expense Of Level 2

Unfortunately, while there are incremental improvements in DC fast charging satisfaction, they have come at the expense of level 2 charging satisfaction. Level 2 overall satisfaction is down to 614 points, which is three points worse than last year.

Consumers are also dissatisfied with Level 2’s speeds; that score sits at a pretty dismal 451 points out of a possible 1,000.

“When you look at this year versus last year, one of the issues that we’re seeing is there’s a lot of focus on fast charging right now, right there’s all this investment, there’s all this focus on growing the fast charging environment… And that’s to the detriment of level 2 charging,” Gruber said. “When you focus on one, you’re short-tripping the other. And that’s exactly what’s happened with DC fast charging; It’s taking the attention away from level two, and we’re kind of taking our eye off the ball.”

Both DC fast charging and level 2 charging have the same problems: a lack of stalls and stations available for EV drivers. However, Gruber said that most federal funding and private investment are biased toward establishing DC fast-charging infrastructure, while the existing level 2 charging infrastructure has fallen by the wayside.

Gruber and I talked about how many level 2 stations are older and might be in disrepair, won’t offer the car connectivity of other more modern stations, and are likely very slow. Tesla’s destination chargers rank the highest out of all the level 2 brands (658/1000), but Tesla’s destination chargers generally can deliver speeds of at least 11 kW. It’s increasingly common for modern EVs to be capable of accepting speeds of at least 7.2 kW of AC power, but finding a station that could deliver those speeds is frustratingly rare.

JD Power says that the number of EV stations of all types is continuing to grow, but it’s not keeping pace with the growing number of EVs on the roads. Add some very concerning trends with the chargers themselves, and we’ll face serious issues if we don’t shape up quickly.