Best electric vehicle charging network in 2026, Ionna takes the lead
Which network is the best electric vehicle charging network in 2026 is a question J.D. Power own new study answers directly. The company 2026 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience Public Charging Study surveyed 6,594 battery electric and plug in hybrid owners on 10 separate satisfaction factors, and this is the sixth year J.D. Power has run the study continuously since 2021. Ionna, a fast charging network built and owned by 8 automakers, scored 807 points out of 1,000 for direct current fast charging, the kind of charger built to add a large amount of range in under an hour rather than the slower kind found in a driveway. That is the highest score any network has posted in the study history.
Automaker owned networks are the new leaders
Mercedes Benz Charging Network placed second at 797 points, and Rivian Adventure Network placed third at 755, J.D. Power own study shows. Tesla Superchargers came in fourth at 701 points, still comfortably above the industry average of 666 points across every network measured, according to evchargingstations.com own report on the same release. That ends a run Tesla held at the top of the ranking for 5 years, from 2021 to 2025, evchargingstations.com states. Ionna score of 807 sits 106 points above Tesla score of 701, and 141 points above the industry average of 666, both MAOWCE calculations. Ionna itself says on its own website that it was founded by 8 automakers, and that it now runs more than 100 charging sites with more than 1,100 charging bays live or under construction nationwide, each able to deliver up to 400 kilowatts.
Ionna, Mercedes Benz Charging Network and Rivian Adventure Network scores also appear in J.D. Power own release, source 1.
Show the numbers
| Ionna | 807 |
| Mercedes Benz Charging Network | 797 |
| Rivian Adventure Network | 755 |
| Tesla Superchargers | 701 |
Where a driver plugs in matters as much as which network they choose
J.D. Power breaks its score down by where the charger sits, not just which company owns it, and GoodCarBadCar own report on the study shows a wide gap. Charging at a hotel scores highest at 692 points, followed by gas stations and convenience stores at 689 and restaurants at 688. Standalone parking lots and garages score 606, and dealership sites score lowest at 570, a gap of 122 points between the best and worst location types.
Neither source 4 nor source 5 states whether these scores are weighted by visit volume or averaged evenly across sites, so this is presented as the study own reported average, not an explained method.
Show the numbers
| Hotels | 692 |
| Gas stations and convenience stores | 689 |
| Restaurants | 688 |
| Standalone parking lots and garages | 606 |
| Dealership sites | 570 |
Fewer charging visits are failing
The share of charging visits nationwide that ended without a successful charge fell from 19% in 2024 to 14% in 2025 and 12% in 2026, the lowest rate in the study history, evchargingstations.com reports. Charger availability rose 27 points year over year, the largest single gain of any factor J.D. Power tracks, and safety perception and satisfaction with charging cost each rose 18 points, GoodCarBadCar own report shows.
The public charging experience is becoming more consistent, and that's critical as the EV market matures.
Brent Gruber, Executive director of electric vehicle solutions at J.D. Power. Source 1.