J.D. Power: Tesla chargers more reliable than competitors

Tesla's electric vehicle charging network is significantly more reliable than competitors, according to J.D. Power's most recent E-Vision Intelligence Report.

About 21.6 percent of EV drivers visiting non-Tesla public charging ports in the first quarter of 2023 were unable to charge their vehicle compared to just 3.9 percent of Tesla drivers using the Tesla Supercharger network.

"When it comes to reliability, no other provider is even close to Tesla," the report said.

Tesla's charging system is gaining traction as an industry standard in North America. Ford, General Motors, Rivian and Volvo have reached agreements to add Tesla's North American Charging Standard charging sockets to their EVs over the next several years. Stellantis and Hyundai are considering similar deals.

The Supercharger network benefits from being more vertically integrated than competitors, J.D. Power said.

"This enables Tesla to control and test the compatibility between the vehicle hardware and software and the Supercharger hardware and software," said Elizabeth Krear, J.D. Power's vice president for EV practice.

Conversely, nonproprietary networks are horizontally integrated and rely on coordination and maintenance by several stakeholders, from the charge point operators to the host sites.

They must work with "a variety of vehicles that all have evolving software updates — all adding complexity for non-Tesla charging," Krear said.

SAE International announced Tuesday it will support the standardization of the NACS connector by developing manufacturing, performance and reliability standards on an expedited timeline.

The J.D. Power study found public charging satisfaction was highest among Tesla vehicle owners. On a 1,000-point scale, Tesla scored 734. The average for all other manufacturers was 558.

The Department of Energy says Tesla has almost 20,000 ports in its Supercharger network. That would make it the largest EV charging network in the U.S. Networks using the Combined Charging System — the NACS' nonproprietary rival — have approximately 11,500 fast chargers.

"Tesla simply has the largest and most reliable fast-charging network," the report said.

NACS charging stations will be eligible for federal subsidies under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program as long as they also include a CCS connection, the White House said June 9.

Solving charging issues is a key component of the transition to electric vehicles, according to the J.D. Power report.

"Lack of public charging infrastructure has been the top consumer barrier to EV adoption for the past 12 months, followed by related issues involving range anxiety, time required to charge and inability to charge at home or work," J.D. Power said.

"If the Tesla user experience can be replicated for the non-Tesla EV users, then adoption of NACS by non-Tesla manufacturers could improve the overall charging experience and reliability. However, it remains to be measured," Krear said. "In the short term, opening the nation's largest fast-charging network to non-Tesla owners helps address one of the industry's biggest challenges, which is making more public fast chargers available."