Plug In America partners with Consumer Reports on effort to better understand EV charging experience
As part of an effort to help people navigate the electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid landscape, Plug In America is working with Consumer Reports (CR) as CR launches a new initiative to better understand the issues drivers experience at public charging locations. CR’s new EV Charging Community announced September 26 is a group of EV and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners who share feedback online after they charge in public.
The most common issue holding Americans back from getting an electric vehicle is charging logistics, according to a Consumer Reports nationally representative survey of 9,030 U.S. adults conducted in June and July, 2023. Reliable public infrastructure is critical for those on longer road trips, and for Black, Latino, low- and moderate-income drivers, renters, apartment dwellers and others who may not have access to home charging as they consider switching to an EV.
EV drivers are encouraged to take a screener survey to see if they qualify to join CR’s EV Charging Community available here.
Community members who qualify will share their observations through quick surveys after they charge. Areas of focus include charging speed, uptime, payment problems, safety issues, and access to amenities at EV charging stations throughout the country. Results from the community will highlight trends in EV infrastructure and pain points where improvements and consumer engagement are needed.
Approximately 1,600 active community members are already providing key information about America’s EV charging ecosystem. According to preliminary data, 27% of enrolled EV drivers are experiencing a problem when publicly charging their vehicle.
In addition to Plug In America, the non-profit organizations Greenlatinos, Forth, Generation180 and the Texas Electric Transportation Resources Alliance Education Fund are partnering with Consumer Reports on initial outreach. CR and partners welcome other non-profit organizations with EV-driving members to reach out to join this important effort.
“We know from our annual survey that public charging is still a concern for EV drivers and is a barrier to EV adoption,” said Joel Levin, executive director at Plug In America. “By teaming up with Consumer Reports, we’re hoping to gather more specific information so we can help create better policy and inform charging companies.”
“Charging stations are critical services, but when they’re out of order or barely functional, it wastes consumers’ valuable time,” said Drew Toher, sustainability campaign manager at Consumer Reports. “As more people consider an EV or plug-in hybrid as their next vehicle, public chargers must be reliable and accessible. To make this happen, we need EV drivers across the country to join this groundbreaking effort to better understand people’s public charging experiences.”
“Participating in this effort will provide EV drivers in Texas a great opportunity to share their public charging experiences and help improve the charging landscape in the state,” said Laura Morrison, executive director of Texas Electric Transportation Resources Alliance Education Fund.
“Access to reliable, affordable, safe EV charging is crucial to building an equitable and optimal public EV charging network. In research we have done on this topic, we have found that among Latino drivers, concerns about lack of access to charging infrastructure is a major issue holding them back from buying an EV,” said Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, Sustainable Communities Program Director at GreenLatinos. “We need more and better quality chargers in our communities in order to make an EV future possible for all — your participation in this survey will help us collect the information we need to make this possible. Please join us by sharing your experiences and insight.”
“It’s an exciting time in our nation’s transition to vehicle electrification. Generation180 is pleased to partner with Consumer Reports to help ensure a positive charging experience for EV drivers by engaging our nationwide network of over 6,000 EV owners and Ambassadors. Working together, we can help improve the public charging experience,” said Stuart Gardner, Generation180’s executive director.
