The 2025 US Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Ownership Study from J.D. Power tells us that more people are more satisfied with their EV experience than last year – and the EV owners who are the most satisfied with their rides can be found behind the wheel of the BMW iX.

Now in its fifth year, the J.D. Power U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Ownership Study focuses on the the first year of vehicle ownership. The overall EVX ownership index is a 1000-point score that measures EV owner satisfaction in both premium and mass market segments across 10 factors. Those being (in alphabetical order):

• accuracy of stated battery range
• availability of public charging stations
• battery range
• cost of ownership
• driving enjoyment
• ease of charging at home
• interior and exterior styling
• safety and technology features
• service experience
• vehicle quality and reliability

And, for the second year in a row, a BMW has taken the top two spots in J.D. Power’s survey, slotting just ahead of the Rivian R1T and R1S models (the leaders in 2023). In the mass-market BEV segment, BMW’s MINI sub-brand also performed well.

The reason BMW is consistently pulling ahead? It seems to come down to education. “First-time EV buyers are receiving minimal education or training,” explains Brent Gruber, executive director of the EV practice at J.D. Power. “Dealer and manufacturer representatives play the crucial role of front-line educators, but when it comes to EVs, the specific education needed to shorten the learning curve just isn’t happening often enough. The shortfall in buyer education is something we’re seeing with all brands.”

Advertisement – scroll for more content

For their part, BMW and MINI do a great job with consumer education – and the company’s Genius program (cunning cribbed from Apple’s Genius Bar playbook) is the best in the car business. With that in mind, it’s hard to imagine this going down any other way.

Bigger trends in the EV space

After a decline in BEV owners’ overall satisfaction results in 2024, J.D. Power reports that owners of both premium and mass market battery electric EVs are expressing a change of sentiment this year. Part of that is better education, another part is more mainstream awareness of EV charging basics, but most of that is the overall growth and improvement of America’s publicly accessible DC fast charging network.

Among mass market BEV owners, satisfaction is up 86 points year over year (396) as infrastructure buildout continues and brands benefit from the opening of the Tesla Supercharger network. Satisfaction with public charger availability is highest among owners of premium BEVs (551).

J.D. POWER

These results should come as no surprise to Electrek readers and Quick Charge listeners. We covered a Paren study late last year that showed a nearly 50% increase in DC fast charging sessions YOY over Thanksgiving weekend. In that study, the company’s proprietary EV charger reliability index was up 3.4% compared to last year, reaching 85.5% and signaling an improving charging experience overall for EV drivers.

Another big EV trend covered in J.D. Power’s survey is the market’s permanence. EVs have staying power, in other words, with the vast, sweeping majority of first-time EV buyers indicating that they’re not going back to ICE.

verall, 94% of BEV owners are likely to consider purchasing another BEV for their next vehicle, a rate that is also matched by first-time buyers. Manufacturers should take note of the strong consumer commitment to EVs as the high rate of repurchase intent offers the ability to generate brand loyal customers if the experience is a positive one. In fact, during the past several years, the BEV repurchase intent percentage has fluctuated very little, ranging between 94-97%. This year’s study also finds that only 12% of BEV owners are likely to consider replacing their EV with an internal combustion engine (ICE)-powered vehicle during their next purchase.

J.D. POWER

“With five years of conducting this study and surveying thousands of EV owners, it’s apparent that once consumers enter the EV fold, they’re highly likely to remain committed to the technology,” Gruber adds.

J.D. Power reports that BEVs reached a market share of 9.1% in 2024, up from 8.4% in 2023. That’s in line with Cox Automotive’s numbers, which led that company to predict that 1 of every 4 new cars sold in the US (cleverly sidestepping the truck segment) would be battery-powered in 2025.

You can check out the results of the J.D. Power surveys, below, then let us know what you think of these results in the comments.

EVs with most satisfied owners

SOURCE | IMAGES: J.D. Power; BMW.

Dutch charge point operators Fastned have opened their first DC fast-charging station with up to 400 kW chargers in Italy, marking the eighth nation the company has built stations in.

Fastned’s new EV charging location was built into the existing Truck Park Brescia Est service plaxa on the busy A4 motorway roughly between Milan and Venice. The A4 is a major traffic artery in the northern part of Italy, but that’s not the only reason the site was chosen.

Fastned says that the majority of electric vehicles registered in the boot-shaped nation are located in the northernmost regions of the country of the country. More specifically, the new charging facility is located roughly halfway between Bergamo and Verona, while the A4 continues west to Lake Lugano and Lake Como or and east to Lago di Garda.

The facility offers four Alpitronic-built HYC400 Hyperchargers, DC fast charging stations with a massive, 400 kW output – quite a bit more than what even the newest Tesla EVs can make use of, but still significantly slower than either the megawatt charging some battery electric semi trucks or the latest 6C luxury cars from China can make use of.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

The new Fastned charge park was originally set to open in 2024, but wasn’t officially commissioned by the Italian motorway operator A4 Holding Group until this week.

Electrek’s Take

You might be asking yourself why I’m writing about a new charging station in Europe when I usually write about big trucks and tractors. The answer is simple: I read “Truck Park Brescia Est” and assumed this was a truck stop. By the time I figured it out I’d already written about three quarters of the article, and rather than throw it away I decided to use it as yet another opportunity to point out that Tesla is a step or three behind the latest charging tech from China.

I also re-posted an episode of Quick Charge on this same topic (above). Enjoy!

SOURCE | IMAGES: Fastned, via Electrive.

Velotric has continued to regularly update its popular e-bike models, with the latest launch today bringing us the Nomad 2. This fat tire adventure bike carries a host of new features and components, offering a powerful yet comfortable ride on both city streets and off-road trails.

The Velotric Nomad 2 sports a 750W nominally-rated motor with a true 90 Nm of torque. In other words, it’s designed to eat hills for breakfast and lay down some real power when riders need it most. And with both throttle-activated control and 15 levels of responsive pedal assist, that power can be dialed in to the right level for each rider’s own taste. And with a maximum speed of 28 mph, the bike is fast enough to keep up with traffic… when riders aren’t enjoying a relaxing trail ride.

Speaking of pedal assist, Velotric offers what they call SensorSwap, a feature in the pedal assist system that uses both a cadence sensor and a torque sensor and allows riders to select which sensor is being used at any time. The former allows riders to pedal easily while still getting impressive power output from the motor, while the latter offers more intuitive riding that provides a more natural feeling akin to pedaling a bike with extra powerful legs.

Torque sensors are often considered superior for their more refined experience, but cadense sensors are still praised by riders who don’t want to put in the extra effort required by torque sensors. With a torque sensor, the rider’s pedaling effort is multiplied, but a cadense sensor lets riders feel like they’re pedaling without needing to actually provide as much of their own ‘oomph’.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

The Nomad 2’s design includes off-road features such as 26×4.0″ tires, a 100mm travel hydraulic suspension fork, and an included parallel linkage suspension seat post.

Combined with the powerful motor that offers 1,000 lb of towing capacity (plus 505 lb of payload), the 75 lb e-bike is built to handle just about anything, and that includes nearly any trail.

“Sometimes the road less traveled is the better one,” says Adam Zhang, the CEO of Velotric. “Nomad 2 speaks to those who love the journey, and the occasional detour! Whether you’re climbing trails, hauling heavy loads, or simply cruising, our latest bike gives you the freedom to ride further, faster, and more comfortably than ever before.”

And since off-road adventures often don’t have clear-cut end times, the bike offers 65 miles of maximum range thanks to the 48V and 14.7 Ah battery with 705 Wh of capacity. That battery is UL-listed and IPX7 waterproof, meaning you can dunk it in water. I’ve done exactly that with Velotric batteries before and they’ve survived for many more rides.

Rounding out the feature list includes a 3.5″ color display, Bluetooth connectivity, USB-C phone charger, 500 lumen headlight, tail light with turn signals, included rear rack with fenders, hydraulic disc brakes, an 8-speed Shimano transmission, and more.

The Velotric Nomad 2 is priced at $1,999 and went on sale today.

Riders can snag it in two sizes with four color options, and with a choice between a high-step and a step-through frame style.