BEV Public Charging: How Charge Point Operators Can Step Out of Tesla’s Shadow

Public charging remains a major hurdle to the broader adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEVs)—and our new findings indicate that new-car shoppers’ concerns are warranted. These findings come from our EVForward^® 2024 Charging Experience DeepDive study, which explores the public charging experience, analyzing perceptions of charge point operator (CPO) brands and the key factors that influence where battery electric vehicle (BEV) drivers choose to charge.

The study’s findings demonstrate that CPO brands have a long way to go if they want to compete with the market leader, Tesla. However, we found that CPOs can begin to level the playing field by differentiating their brands—with multiple options for successful differentiation.

Where Public Charging Falls Short With BEV Owners

A sizable segment of BEV owners reported negative experiences when using public charging stations, with non-Tesla owners feeling the pain most acutely. Three in four (73%) said they had experienced slower-than-expected charging times at least occasionally, compared with 53% of Tesla owners. Other common frustrations include finding a fully charged vehicle still occupying the charger (72% of non-Tesla owners vs. 45% of Tesla owners) and encountering a broken charger (73% of non-Tesla owners vs. 34% of Tesla owners).

These challenges can significantly impact the BEV ownership experience. On average, participants ranked issues such as trouble finding a public charging station, encountering a broken charger or facing unexpectedly high costs as a four on a five-point scale, where five represents a “very negative impact.”

To enhance the public charging experience, CPOs should prioritize addressing the issues that occur most frequently and have the greatest negative impact on customers. These include problems locating a public charger, broken equipment, higher-than-expected pricing and slower-than-anticipated charging times.

Tesla Stays on Top—For Now

It’s not just the charging experience where Tesla dominates. The brand enjoys a strong lead in familiarity, with other CPOs lagging significantly. Tesla also holds the top spot in consideration, with 65% of respondents indicating they would choose the brand over other CPOs. In comparison, the next closest brand, ChargePoint, trails at 20%.

However, brand opinion is relatively consistent across all CPOs. In fact, all 13 brands in our study received scores of 43% to 56%. This suggests that if other CPOs increase their visibility, they could start to capture a larger market share—especially if they offer a differentiated brand promise aligning with what drivers want from a fast-charging network.

To better understand how other CPOs might chip away at Tesla’s lead, we developed a discrete choice model to evaluate how participants prioritized different aspects of the public charging experience. This model examines how consumers trade off various factors, such as brand, wait time, the proximity of a charger to their travel route, charge time and price.

While drivers emphasized the importance of charging speed at multiple points throughout the study, the modeling revealed that cost plays the most substantial role in consumer decision-making. As charging networks become denser and drivers have more choices in a single location, CPOs looking to compete will need to track local pricing closely and adjust their rates accordingly, much like gas stations do today.

Tackling Time Anxiety™ to Optimize the Charging Experience

Beyond this, the attributes most likely to sway drivers are those that assuage drivers’ Time Anxiety™ about how much time it will take to charge their BEV. These include low or no wait times, proximity to route and charge time. To create an optimal charging experience, CPOs should position stations adjacent to major travel corridors, ensure they have enough charging ports to meet peak demand and install reliable high-speed equipment.

Interestingly, the ability to reserve a charger doesn’t weigh heavily in consumers’ decisions. This suggests CPOs that offer (or are considering offering) reservations may need to place greater emphasis on how a reservation system could help drivers skip the queue and get back on the road faster.

There are other ways CPOs can successfully differentiate themselves from Tesla. Respondents expressed enthusiasm for an “amenity-rich” charge point model with on-site food offerings and attendants. Our findings also indicate that having a renewable component in charging stations—especially offering 100% renewable energy—could give operators an edge.

Powering Trust: How CPOs Can Win With Easy, Fast and Reliable Charging

Drivers’ relatively low familiarity with CPO brands means the market is still much in flux. There is plenty of room for brands to establish themselves as the go-to charging network despite Tesla’s lead with its Supercharger network. CPO brands have a few routes they could take to achieve this, from undercutting their competitors on pricing to adding extra ports to reduce wait times. But whatever path they choose, they will need to execute it well.

One thing that almost every BEV owner in the study had in common was experiencing frustration at a public charging station. And once a brand’s reputation is tarnished, it’s much harder to restore trust. If CPOs are serious about positioning themselves as a strong alternative to Tesla, they must take steps to elevate their customer experience to reliably provide the “basics” along with whatever brand promise they choose to differentiate on. CPOs don’t just need to build a network; they need to build confidence. That starts with proving to drivers that public charging can be easy, fast and reliable.

If you’d like to learn more about our study or how our Automotive & Mobility and Energy industry experts can help you bolster your brand and better meet consumer expectations to gain market share, send us a note using the form below.