EV Apps Figure Largely in Buying, Ownership Satisfaction

A survey of electric-vehicle owners points to the value consumers place on automakers’ EV mobile applications and how brands and dealers can do a better job of seizing that opportunity.

It found that just over a third of non-Tesla EV owners said an app had at least a moderate effect on their decision to buy, compared to almost two-thirds of Tesla owners. The disparity was similar when it came to the apps having an outsize effect on shopping decisions.

“This suggests that OEMs must do a better job of communicating the availability and feature content of their smartphone apps to help attract interested EV shoppers,” J.D. Power said in a summary of its findings.

The percentage of EV owners who use a brand’s mobile app rose two percentage points year-over-year to 90%, according to the survey, and 67% use them at least half the time they spend driving.

Brands are doing a good job of providing app features consumers want and use, according to the survey. Those include battery charge level monitoring, and more than 70% of EV owners say they want 20 of the most commonly provided 25 features.

Meanwhile, dealerships are doing a better job of educating buyers about the apps, the survey found. Nearly three-fourths of owners, up two percentage points year-over-year, indicated their dealership helped them with their apps.

App connections problems were flat year-over-year, though reported problems with Tesla’s app rose, which J.D. Power said may indicate greater usage could be straining capacity.

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