Electric vehicle owners have discovered something different entirely—a loyalty so strong that 96% plan to buy or lease another EV next, even after losing the $7,500 federal tax credit last September.
The JD Power 2026 EVX Ownership Study surveyed 5,741 owners and found record satisfaction levels that defy the broader EV sales slump. Like Netflix subscribers who never consider cable again, EV owners have crossed a threshold. Public charging satisfaction exploded upward—premium BEV owners jumped 101 points to 652 out of 1,000, while mass-market owners surged 115 points to 511.
Tesla’s Supercharger Network Opens the Floodgates
Credit Tesla’s NACS connector becoming the industry standard. Suddenly every EV gets Supercharger access—the charging equivalent of unlocking exclusive airport lounges everywhere.
ChargePoint, Electrify America, and EVgo also stepped up their game, but nothing matches the psychological shift of seeing those red and white charging stalls become universally available.
Model Rankings Reveal Clear Winners
Premium rankings stay predictable:
- Tesla Model 3 leads at 804 points
- Model Y follows at 797
- BMW i4 at 795
But Ford’s Mustang Mach-E claiming the mass-market throne at 760 points signals something bigger—traditional automakers can match Silicon Valley satisfaction when they nail the execution.
Hyundai IONIQ 6 (748) and Kia EV9 (745) prove Korean manufacturers understand the assignment too.
Pure Electric Beats Plug-In Hybrid Reality
Battery-only beats battery-plus-engine decisively. BEVs score 117 points higher than PHEVs in ownership costs for mass-market vehicles, with premium BEVs leading by 114 points.
“Improvements in battery technology, charging infrastructure and overall vehicle performance have driven customer satisfaction to its highest level ever,” according to Brent Gruber, JD Power’s EV practice director. This contradicts broader reliability studies showing EVs face more powertrain issues, but ownership experience trumps initial teething problems.
The loyalty numbers suggest something fundamental: once drivers experience instant torque, silent operation, and home charging convenience, combustion engines feel like flip phones. Your next car decision just got simpler.
