Electric Vehicle App Engagement Reaches New Highs but Brands Face Pressure to Improve Speed and Reliability, J.D. Power Finds

Business Wire

4 days ago

BUSINESS WIRE)--As the electric vehicle (EV) market matures, companion mobile apps have become a critical part of the ownership experience. From unlocking the vehicle to remotely managing charging and climate, EV apps now serve as an extension of the vehicle itself. According to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. OEM EV App Report SM released today, EV app usage continues to climb, though satisfaction is still held back by connectivity issues, remote command speed and inconsistent feature performance. These usability gaps contrast sharply with rising expectations, as more EV owners are expecting quick and integrated app functionality each time they drive.
'EV owners are telling J.D. Power exactly what they need: reliable performance and connectivity to interact with their vehicles,' said Violet Allmandinger, mobile apps lead at J.D. Power. 'Top-performing apps deliver fast, consistent remote controls and have desired features. However, most other apps are still closing that gap.'
Following are some key findings from the 2025 report:
EV app usage rising: Nearly one-third (32%) of non-Tesla users now use their app on every drive (up from 17% in 2024), while Tesla users are at 79%, up from 69% a year ago. This reflects the growing reliance on apps for routine EV functions such as charge monitoring, pre-conditioning and route planning. However, satisfaction still lags due to slow connections and inconsistent performance.
Distinct advantage in speed: Nearly half (46%) of EV app users say 3-5 seconds is the longest acceptable delay for remote commands, while 40% of Tesla users expect responses in just 1-2 seconds. App speed remains the top driver of satisfaction. Tesla users place higher value on app speed (8.3 on a 10-point scale) than non-Tesla users (7.4) and are more satisfied (7.9) than non-Tesla users (5.5). The small gap between expectation and satisfaction suggests that Tesla has a competitive edge in delivering on customers' needs.
Connectivity issues remain top frustration: Although connectivity has improved slightly, 37% of non-Tesla EV app users still have issues with losing connection or delayed updates, down from 40% in 2024. Tesla, on the other hand, has made significant improvement by reducing connectivity complaints to 19% from 35% year over year. This reinforces the importance of frequent app updates to address issues and transparent communication to customers.
Strong interest in EV features, yet low engagement among app users: While more than 70% of EV app users say they want features like charge scheduling, trip planning with charging stops and in-app payment for public charging, many non-Tesla users do not use these features. In fact, 43% of non-Tesla users have never tried to schedule a charge; 44% have never used the app to plan trips; and 54% have never attempted to pay for charging through the manufacturer's app. This gap suggests a lack of feature availability or limited awareness, both of which represent missed opportunities to improve satisfaction.
Feature desirability continues to evolve: Several advanced features have seen year-over-year increases in desirability. Interest in adjusting driver profiles—such as enabling valet or guest mode—has risen 6.3 percentage points, the largest gain. Other features with rising interest include remote window control (+3.7 percentage points); smartphone key access (+2.2 percentage points); and viewing vehicle cameras or security alerts (+1.7 percentage points). Core features like vehicle status, over-the-air updates and diagnostics/vehicle health checks continue to be desired by more than 90% of EV app users.
Report Rankings
Tesla (864) ranks highest overall and among premium manufacturer EV vehicle mobile apps. Mercedes-Benz (839) ranks second and My BMW (833) ranks third.
MyHyundai with Bluelink ranks highest among mass market manufacturer EV mobile apps with a score of 820 (on a 1,000-point scale). Kia Access (808) ranks second and MINI (797) ranks third.
See the rank chart for each segment at http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2025057.
The U.S. OEM EV App Report, now in its fifth year, gauges EV owners' experience with their brand's mobile app. Insights are derived from surveying EV owners and an assessment of the most relevant EV mobile apps. Results are based on a standardized assessment approach relying on more than 350 best practices for vehicle apps that include more than 70 EV-specific attributes.
The report includes apps from the top 28 award-eligible brands that sell EVs in the United States; 10 profiled EV brands in China; and eight profiled EV brands in Europe. Brands from China and Europe are included in this report given their expanding presence in the EV marketplace. Additionally, 1,966 EV owners in the United States were surveyed in March-April 2025 to gather insights on app usage; feature desirability; and app overall execution for the 2025 report.
For more information about the U.S. OEM EV App Report, visit
https://www.jdpower.com/business/us-oem-ev-app-report.
About J.D. Power
J.D. Power is a global leader in automotive data and analytics, and provides industry intelligence, consumer insights and advisory solutions to the automotive industry and selected non-automotive industries. J.D. Power leverages its extensive proprietary datasets and software capabilities combined with advanced analytics and artificial intelligence tools to help its clients optimize business performance.
J.D. Power was founded in 1968 and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company's business offerings, visit jdpower.com/business. The J.D. Power auto-shopping tool can be found at jdpower.com.