The No. 1 issue stopping consumers from buying electric vehicles is about charging.

And so are the No. 2 and No. 3 reasons.

J.D. Power’s February E-Vision Intelligence Report, citing the research firm’s recent U.S. Electric Vehicle Consideration Study, said the top three factors cited by active vehicle shoppers as a barrier to EV adoption were all related to charging.

Low availability of public charging stations was at the top, cited by 51% of the survey respondents, followed by time required to charge (49%) and limited driving distance per charge (47%).

“Perceived flaws in the public charging network are still a major deterrent to prospective EV buyers,” the report said. “Until manufacturers, charge point operators, utilities and other EV stakeholders address these lingering concerns, negative public perception of the public charging network will continue to be a headwind to EV adoption.”

That goal got a bit more complicated in February when the Trump administration announced plans to suspend the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program. The NEVI initiative had allocated some $5 billion in state funding to support the development of public charging stations, with a goal to build a nationwide network of EV charging stations every 50 miles.

But non-government entities are working on the issue – notably IONNA, a joint venture between automakers BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and Toyota, which recently announced its transition from beta testing to a full-scale national release.

The Durham, N.C.-based coalition, whose goal is to deploy more than 30,000 fast chargers in North America by 2030, said it has contracted more than 100 sites since its launch a year ago and plans to deploy more than 1,000 live charging bays by the end of 2025.

Tesla currently has the nation’s most extensive and highly rated fast-charger network, leading the J.D. Power U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience Public Charging Study’s rankings in Q4 2024 with a satisfaction score of 701 on a 1,000-point scale — up 27 points year-over-year. The Superchargers have been a hit with EV owners since they were opened up to EVs of all brands in 2022. But maybe not so much for Tesla owners, whose average satisfaction score for the network dropped two points in 2024.

Overall customer satisfaction with the nation’s DC fast-charging capabilities improved slightly through the fourth quarter, from 643 to 650, and satisfaction with Level 2 public charging held steady at 602, but the number of failed attempts at charging is on the rise.

J.D. Power’s report noted 20% of EV drivers who visited public charging stations said they were unable to charge their vehicles due to issues ranging from station outages and equipment malfunctions – the most common reason at 62% – to long wait times and payment failures. That was up from 19% in Q3 2024 and 18% in Q4 2023.