It can be difficult to convince haters of the virtues of electric cars, unless these people are Californians or were already on board with the concept. But, according to a new study, after people make the leap, they tend to stay.
JD Power said it was the first time that he did the study, which he calls the Electric Vehicle Experience Property Study (EVX), and which, therefore, I will refer to as “the study”. The study asked electric car owners a number of questions regarding their degree of satisfaction with their EVs. Not surprisingly, owners said that range was most important to them, along with how good or bad the charging network and cost savings over the vehicle’s life compared to a gas car.
More interestingly, brand loyalty does not seem to be very important in the EV world, at least among people who were not so satisfied with the EVs they ended up buying. Most of these people Besides that say they’re going to buy another EV.
The study found that 95% of EV owners, whose overall satisfaction with the property exceeds 900 points, say they will buy another EV. Almost two thirds (64%) of these owners say that they “will definitely” repurchase the same brand. However, the likelihood of repurchasing the same brand decreases as satisfaction decreases. Among the owners whose satisfaction is between 600 and 750 points, 77% indicate that they “will surely” buy another VE – although the probability of repurchasing the same brand is only 25%.
The scores in that paragraph refer to the individuals’ responses, not the index score for specific models, but you can probably guess who got the highest score in the aggregate. I invite you to examine the following bar graphs the study:
G / O Media can receive a commission
The story seems to be, then, that many owners of the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt are not necessarily passionate about their Leafs or Bolts, but that also hasn’t ruined electric cars for them forever. The worst news is probably for Audi and Jaguar, who went directly to Tesla and both ended up behind. Most Tesla owners, however, seem perfectly happy with their decision, with one caveat:
Although driving pleasure varies significantly by segment (892 for premium BEV and 758 for mass market BEV), only in the mass market segment does driving pleasure surpass quality and reliability. Quality and reliability are the most important factors in the ownership experience of premium electric vehicles. It is notable that although Tesla appears to be of poor quality, Tesla owners are more highly satisfied overall, indicating their willingness to ignore quality problems.
Quality issues pursued Tesla for years, and if that didn’t sink them at this point, it probably never will. And the idea that legacy car makers can beat Tesla if they simply trying to get more and more doubtful.