Electric-vehicle owners use vehicle makers’ mobile applications more often but tend to be less satisfied with the app features most important to them, a J.D. Power study found.

Usage of the apps has increased among both EV owners and owners of gas-powered vehicles in recent year, J.D. Power says, though 66% of EV owners use them for at least half of their trips.

Among the lowest-scoring app features are speed and navigation ease, the study found, yet those are the two most important to EV owners, and visual appeal ranked high but is the least important to them.

“Manufacturers need to focus on improving the performance of the areas that matter most to EV owners in order to maximize their impact and elevate the user experience,” said Jason Norton, J.D. Power senior manager of global automotive consulting.

The manufacturer app is significantly more important to Tesla owners than non-Tesla EV consumers, the study shows, 59% of Tesla owners saying it played at least a moderate role in their decision to buy, compared to 35% of non-Tesla EV owners. Twenty-one percent of Tesla owners indicate it had a major effect on their purchases, versus 7% of non-Tesla owners.

J.D. Power interprets that finding to mean manufacturers should make more effort to market their apps to draw in EV shoppers, since it says Tesla owners have led EV trends.

Similar to last year’s study results, EV owners often use the apps to monitor charging process and see available range, the study says. Most say they want to be aware of public charger availability in case they need to charge away from home.

For more information on the study, visit J.D. Power.

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