How to Find the Most Reliable EV Charging Stations as Failures Hit a Record Low

The odds of pulling up to a public EV charger and not being able to charge just fell to their lowest point on record. J.D. Power’s 2026 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience Public Charging Study found the industry-wide non-charge rate has dropped to 12 percent, down from 14 percent a year ago and 19 percent two years ago. Here is how to find the networks and locations most likely to work on the first try, based on the same data.

The Headline Number: Failed Charging Attempts Are Getting Rarer

A non-charging visit is exactly what it sounds like: an EV owner pulls up to a public charger, plugs in, and cannot get a charge started. J.D. Power has tracked that failure rate every year the study has run, starting in 2021, and the 2026 edition, based on responses from 6,594 owners of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles surveyed between January and June, found it at the lowest level the study has ever recorded.

The improvement is concentrated almost entirely in DC fast chargers, the high-speed stations most drivers rely on for road trips and quick top-offs. Satisfaction with DC fast charging climbed 12 points to 666 on J.D. Power’s 1,000-point scale, with gains across all 10 factors the study measures. The biggest jumps came in charger availability, up 27 points, how safe customers feel at charging locations, up 18 points, and cost of charging, also up 18 points. Public Level 2 chargers, the slower stations found at workplaces, hotels and street parking, moved the opposite direction, falling 12 points to 595, driven by lower scores for ease of payment and ease of charging.

Which Networks Are Actually Worth Seeking Out

This is the first year three OEM-backed fast-charging networks qualified for J.D. Power’s award rankings, and all three finished at the top of the DC fast charger category. IONNA, the network backed by a group of automakers including Honda, Hyundai and Toyota, ranked highest with a score of 807. Mercedes-Benz’s own charging network came in second at 797, and Rivian’s Adventure Network placed third at 755. Brent Gruber, J.D. Power’s executive director of EV solutions, said the newest generation of automaker-backed networks is “showing what it looks like when public charging is designed around the driver,” pointing to reliability, convenient locations and smoother charging sessions as the reasons these networks are pulling ahead of the segment average, in some categories by more than 100 points.

Location counts for as much as network brand. J.D. Power’s data shows DC fast chargers sited at hotels score highest for owner satisfaction at 692, followed closely by gas stations and convenience stores at 689 and restaurants at 688. Chargers at car dealerships score lowest, at 570, with stand-alone parking lots and garages close behind at 606. The pattern suggests drivers charge happiest at destinations with something to do while they wait, and least happily at locations that feel like an afterthought bolted onto an existing lot.

How to Use This Data Before Your Next Road Trip

Practically, that means a few concrete habits can meaningfully cut the odds of a failed charging stop. First, favor newer OEM-backed networks like IONNA, Mercedes-Benz’s network or Rivian’s Adventure Network over older, legacy stations when a route offers a choice. These networks posted the lowest failure rates in this year’s study. Second, plan fast-charging stops around hotels, convenience stores or restaurants rather than stand-alone parking structures or dealership lots. Satisfaction runs higher at those locations, and there is somewhere to wait comfortably if a charger is slow to connect. Third, treat Level 2 public chargers as a backup rather than a primary plan for a road trip, given the segment’s declining satisfaction scores this year, and save them for situations where a slower overnight or all-day charge fits the schedule anyway, such as a hotel stay.

Apps that show real-time charger status and recent user reports, including the PlugShare app J.D. Power partnered with for this study, remain useful for checking whether a specific charger is currently working before driving out of the way for it. A station’s brand and location type predict the odds of success on average, but a quick look at live status data still catches the individual charger that happens to be down for maintenance on any given day.

Why This Is Happening Now

The public charging network that frustrated early EV adopters for years is maturing in a fairly specific way. Automakers investing directly in their own or co-owned charging networks, rather than relying entirely on third-party operators, appears to be the single biggest driver of the improvement J.D. Power documented. Gruber noted that public charging remains the top reason new-vehicle shoppers reject EVs altogether, which gives automakers a direct financial incentive to fix the experience rather than leave it to independent network operators whose incentives are not always aligned with any single brand’s sales goals.

The uneven result between DC fast charging and Level 2 charging tells its own story. Fast chargers are where automakers have concentrated their new investment, building larger sites with more amenities and simpler payment systems. Level 2 charging, often installed years ago by municipalities, retailers or workplaces with less ongoing maintenance investment, has been left to age in place, and the declining satisfaction scores reflect that gap in attention.

What This Means for Anyone Shopping for an EV

For a driver deciding whether to buy an EV, or an existing owner deciding how to plan a longer trip, the practical upshot of this study is that the charging experience varies enormously by network and location type, far more than model year or vehicle brand. A 2023 EV charging on a modern IONNA or Rivian station at a busy hotel is likely to have a smoother experience than a brand-new EV plugged into an aging Level 2 charger in an empty parking garage. Route planning around network and location, not just distance and battery range, is quickly becoming as important to a good EV road trip as knowing where the chargers physically sit.

J.D. Power’s study is fielded twice a year and has run continuously from 2021 onward, giving it enough history to show these are genuine year-over-year trends rather than one good quarter. If the current trajectory holds, next year’s non-charge rate should fall further still, though closing the gap between fast charging and Level 2 charging will likely require dedicated investment from network operators outside the major automakers.

A Word on Cost, Not Just Reliability

Reliability improved, but cost is still a sticking point for drivers who charge at home rather than on the road. J.D. Power’s companion home charging study found overall satisfaction with the home charging experience slipped slightly this year, driven mainly by rising electricity costs rather than equipment problems. That split result is worth knowing before making a purchase decision: the public fast-charging network a driver will rely on for trips is getting more dependable, while the home charging setup most owners use every day is getting a little more expensive to run, even as it stays just as functional as before. Home charging equipment itself held up well in the study, with hardware reliability scores nearly unchanged from last year even as the price of electricity pushed overall satisfaction down a notch.

For most EV owners, home charging still covers the bulk of routine driving, and public fast charging is what owners lean on for the occasional longer trip. That split explains why this year’s findings can show both improvement and decline at the same time without contradicting each other: the two experiences serve different purposes, and they are being shaped by different pressures, equipment investment on one side and electricity pricing on the other.

Sources:

• J.D. Power: 2026 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Public Charging Study
• EV Charging Stations: Ionna, Mercedes and Rivian dethrone Tesla in 2026 JD Power ranking
• Utility Dive: EV charger reliability improves, but high costs still dent satisfaction