Tesla has come out on top in Auto Express’ annual electric vehicle charging network satisfaction survey. The results, from the Driver Power survey of verified EV owners, rated Tesla highest across 10 out of 11 categories including prices, reliability, ease of use and smartphone app functionality. Its extensive Supercharger network was praised for performance and received strong scores for all aspects except location availability, where it ranked third.
MFG EV Power and InstaVolt took second and third place overall. MFG EV was rated highly for reliability, speed and ease of use but lost points for pricing and its smartphone app. InstaVolt impressed with customer service, app functionality and reliability but was marked down for high costs.
Gridserve and Pod Point rounded out the top 5 with decent scores across most criteria but lower rankings for security lighting, number of chargers and network reliability.
Further down the table, BP Pulse continued to underperform and ranked last in 5 categories and second from bottom in the remaining 6. Its best result was a 7th place for pricing. Customers reported issues with location, ease of use and customer service in particular.
The survey also highlighted the convenience gaps between petrol stations and EV charging. While most chargers currently have availability, trips require more planning and use of apps across different networks continues to cause frustration.
However, the rapid growth of public networks from companies like Tesla was welcomed by drivers. Many see improvements in reliability and speed as the numbers of chargers increase to meet growing EV demand.
Source: Auto Express.
