New-vehicle owners are happier overall with their cars than they were last year, but people who bought EVs have the biggest smiles on their faces. That's according to JD Power's 2026 Automotive Performance, Execution, and Layout (APEAL) study, which gauges "owners' emotional attachment and level of excitement with their new vehicle."
The firm found that "electric cars outperform internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in nearly every category." EVs had the biggest delta in satisfaction when it came to the powertrain: EVs outscored ICE cars by 109 points on a 1,000-point scale. This isn't too surprising, since EVs are punchy, smooth, and quiet, and really any one of them will outperform a typical gas car in that regard.
Not too surprisingly, the category in which EVs outperformed combustion cars the most was powertrain. What also stands out is that while APEAL scores improved across every powertrain type, EVs had the biggest year-over-year jump: 22 points. EVs are genuinely getting better in lots of small and big ways, from more convenient charging to range upgrades to heat pumps.
View Price on AmazonThis has happened in surveys of, for example, attitudes towards charging. As more critical buyers jumped on the EV wave, the overall impression of public charging deteriorated, since early buyers were more enthusiastic about the technology and ready to look past its shortcomings. Apparently that's not the case here, and even first-time EV buyers are seeing a lot they like.
For this year's study, JD Power surveyed 78,514 owners of 2026 model-year vehicles about their first 90 days of ownership. It asks owners about 37 attributes, "ranging from the sense of comfort they feel when climbing into the driver’s seat to their exhilaration when they step on the accelerator." Just to give you an idea of what's being measured here.
The survey backs up what we already know about EVs from other research: EV owners rarely go back to gas, and most of the time they intend to buy another EV. One recent study from CDK found that 90% of EV owners plan to buy another EV, and that 73% say their household will always own at least one EV.
Consider, too, the fact that 100% of Mack Hogans decide to purchase another EV after leasing one for the first time. The sample size may be small, but it's an encouraging sign for electric car adoption nationwide.
Source: insideevs.com
