J.D. Power has posted another one of its annual consumer satisfaction ratings, this time around focusing on full-electric cars. BMW won top awards in both affordable and premium market segments, but some EV owners admitted they were almost ready to jump ship.
The BMW i4 headed the premium vehicle satisfaction rating with 800 points. The second and third places went to Rivian’s R1T pickup (789 points) and R1S SUV (778 points). Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y rounded off the top five.
The jury behind the rankings categorized Mini under “affordable” brands, letting it claim the first place in that market segment with the Cooper SE (770 points). It came just a little bit ahead of the Ford Mustang Mach-E (764) and the Hyundai Ioniq 6 (759). Nissan Ariya and Chevrolet Bolt landed on the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
The ranking methodology involved polling recent EV owners about their experience across multiple points. Only responses of those who had an EV for less than a year were counted. The points of survey included overall driving enjoyment, cost of ownership, design appeal, build quality, marketing statement accuracy and infrastructure availability. The latter point proved to be the most criticized.
According to J.D. Power, 39% of the respondents who only recently bought their first EV admitted that poor public charger availability tempted them to consider a traditional ICE car or at least a hybrid next time. The respondents who bought their second or third EV were generally more optimistic with only 19% regretting their choice.