Shift Magazine - July 2021 - 10

Q& A
A
Vehicle
n important
aspect of
electric
vehicle owners' satisfaction with
their ownership experience has
nothing to do with how the cars
handle on the road. It's how they charge at
home that matters.
With that in mind, consumer-analytics
firm J.D. Power
sought to better understand
how people feel about their
home-charging experiences.
In the inaugural U.S. Electric
Experience Home
Charging Study, re leased in
February, the company's researchers
surveyed consumers
on their satisfaction with
Level 1 portable chargers, Level 2 portable
chargers and Level 2 permanently
mounted chargers.
Stewart Stropp, 48, senior director of
automotive retail at J.D. Power, spoke with
Deputy Mobility Editor Pete Bigelow about
their findings. Here are edited excerpts.
10 shift * july 2021
WITH
STEWART STROPP
Q: WHY DID J.D. POWER WANT
TO ANALYZE THIS? WHAT'S THE
IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING HOME
CHARGING?
A: The impetus behind this was seeing
where
the
industry
Eighty-eight percent of
respondents said they
charge at home " often "
or " always. "
J.D. Power executive sees a big opportunity
for automakers, retailers and utilities to
educate consumers on charging at home
was
headed and realizing there
was definitely a need for more
voice from consumers and a
customer perspective. Home
charging is the bread and
butter, and what I mean by that
is fully 88 percent of respondents
in the study say they are
charging at home " often " or
" always. " So there's no question
that it is central to overall
EV ownership.
Q: WHAT PERCENTAGE OF EV
OWNERS ARE USING LEVEL 1 OR 2
CHARGERS, AND HOW HAS THAT
IMPACTED THEIR HAPPINESS WITH
CHARGING?
A: Well, 24 percent are actually using the
Level 1 portable options, and a lot of those
are owners of [plug-in hybrids] or shorter-range
battery electric vehicles. The
other three-quarters using one of the two
Level 2 options, their satisfaction rates are
a lot higher. That's largely driven by the
Level 1 group's dissatisfaction with how
long it takes to charge. Having said that,
one interesting takeaway really speaks
to an opportunity we see, and it's a general
lack of knowledge on details when it
comes to EV ownership. A lot of these EV
owners are not familiar with the different
types of incentives available around home
charging.
Q: ARE CUSTOMERS SAVVY ABOUT
SCHEDULING THEIR CHARGING
TIMES, AND UNDERSTANDING THE
COST SAVINGS THAT MIGHT BE
DEPENDENT ON THE TIME OF DAY
THEY CHARGE?
A: We see over half the Level 2 owners
are in fact scheduling their vehicle at least
some of the time. It's a lot higher than the

https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2021-us-electric-vehicle-experience-evx-home-charging-study https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2021-us-electric-vehicle-experience-evx-home-charging-study

Shift Magazine - July 2021

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