EV owners are becoming increasingly satisfied with their vehicles and, as a result, their likelihood of trading in for another all-electric model is nearly 100%, according to a new study by J.D. Power.
Newer EVs are addressing many of the old problems owners complained about.
Sales of battery-electric vehicles have fallen sharply since federal tax credits were phased out last September – and the slump is widely expected to drag on for some time, according to most industry analysts.
But while new customers may be harder to find after years of rapid growth, automakers have at least one thing to console them: the likelihood that existing owners will buy another EV when it’s time to trade in.
EV owner satisfaction has reached an all-time record, according to the JD Power 2026 US Electric Vehicle Experience. The EVX also reveals that 96% of existing owners plan to stick with an all-electric model next time they’re in the market – even without the federal incentives.
Better batteries, more places to plug in
It helps to have more places to plug in, owners said.
“Improvements in battery technology, charging infrastructure, and overall vehicle performance have driven customer satisfaction to its highest level ever,” said Power’s EV practice chief Brent Gruber.
Automakers have been rushing to bring to market the lessons learned from the first generation of battery-electric vehicles. Newer models, the EVX reveals, are experiencing fewer problems with battery failures and other technological problem.
That’s just one reason why owners seem more pleased with the their EVs. There’s also the lower cost of ownership, especially for those who have installed home chargers. That can bring energy costs down to a fraction of what drivers of internal combustion models pay per mile. The cost gap is significantly smaller when it comes to public charging – but the number of charging stations has been growing rapidly. And many EV brands, noted Power, are now swapping out their old charging systems to adopt the Tesla North American Charging Standard, or NACS, port. That can add thousands of available places to plug in.
Customer satisfaction hits a record
The Ford Mustang Mach-E was the top-rated mainstream EV in the Power 2026 EVX.
The 2026 EVX shows owner satisfaction hitting 652 on a 1,000-point scale. That’s up a full 101 points over the 2025 results.
Premium EV owners were the most satisfied, with a score rising to 786. Mainstream owners gave their EVs a collective rating of 511, a 115-point year-over-year increase.
Significantly, EV owners were far more satisfied with their vehicles than motorists driving plug-in hybrids. The gap was 114 points in the premium segment, 117 in the mainstream market.
All this translates into record loyalty. Fully 96% of the EV owners surveyed by Power said they plan to return to the battery-electric market when trading in.
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The Tesla Model Y was the top-rated EV overall, and in the premium category.
Who topped the list?
The Tesla Model Y ranked highest among all EVs, both overall and in the premium segment with a score of 804 points.
The Model Y came in a close second among premium models, scoring 797, followed by the BMW i4 with a score of 795.
In the mainstream segment, Ford’s Mustang Mach-E took top honors with a score of 769, followed by the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and the Kia EV9, scoring 748 and 745, respectively.
This marks the sixth year for the Power EVX owner study.
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