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In the last decade, electric vehicles and hybrids have gone mainstream. According to Edmunds, EV use on US roads zoomed from 1.3 million in 2021 to 3.3 million at the end of 2023.
That’s a drop in the bucket compared with the country’s 288.5 million internal combustion engine (ICE) powered cars, but EVs and hybrids have something gas-only vehicles don’t: Sales growth. Assuming future changes in government don't derail things, new electric vehicle purchases are likely going to continue to increase. Statista forecasts steady EV sales growth in the US through 2028.
That makes 2024 a perfect time to ask you, our audience, about the EVs and hybrids you prefer. Our results include ratings of 1,126 vehicles, 48% of which are tagged as trucks or SUVs. Across all vehicle types, the preponderance in our results is full electric vehicles (48%) and standard hybrids (37%). Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) simply aren’t as popular. Based on Edmunds ' sales data, standard hybrids outsell PHEVs about seven times over.
We also have the scoop on your favorite charging options and the apps that help you find charging networks around the country. Read on to see which brands you should take for a test drive.
The Top Electric Vehicles & Hybrid Auto Brands for 2024
The New York Times called this one months ago in its article "BMW Is a Surprise Winner in Electric Vehicles." PCMag readers agree.
BMW dominates our chart of combined EVs and hybrids thanks to a 9.4 out of 10 score for overall satisfaction. It’s not on top of every subcategory in this survey, but overall satisfaction is the rating we consider first and foremost—especially considering that it's a tight race this year. The lowest score among car makers in this chart for satisfaction is an impressive 8.8. It turns out that everyone likes their electrified vehicles, no matter what brand they may be. BMW just happens to dominate that list.
(Note: Click the down, left, and right arrows in our interactive charts to view various elements of our survey results.)
Lexus, in second place, stands out in several subcategories (reliability in particular, but also service and repairs and driving assistance) and is the brand most likely to earn a recommendation to others seeking a new vehicle. Another standout is Chevrolet, which has the best scores for value and ease of use.
Surprisingly, Tesla is in eighth place, but it does have high marks for all the innovations the company has brought to charging EVs. Drivers particularly like the charger provided with the car and Tesla’s public charging options (more on that below). We also bestow Tesla a special award for GPS navigation, a feature no one should leave home without.
Again, even the lowest-scoring car maker in our results (Kia in the chart above) rates well overall.
What happens when we break out vehicles by type: EVs vs. hybrids?
Regarding EVs alone, Ford’s scores rival BMW's in the chart above. Ford has the added bonus of winning in several subcategories. That includes ease of use, service and repairs, driving assistance, and overall connectivity. Ford is also the most likely EV brand to be recommended.
Other EV standouts include Chevy, which again has the edge on cost and value, and takes the reliability win here (Lexus isn’t in the EV results). Tesla remains on top for GPS, as well as the charging related subcategories. Tesla and Ford tie for best driving range. Kia is again at the bottom rung, but still posts a solid score for overall satisfaction.
Unsurprisingly, knowing how well they sell, we didn’t receive enough response to include PHEVs, except for one brand: Toyota. As such, we are not giving a PHEV award this year, since there is no competition.
That brings us to the standard hybrids: the vehicles that are mostly ICE-powered with electrical assist or electrically powered only up to a certain speed. Most have a battery charged by regenerative braking, and typically don't plug in.
This one is a tight tie between two brands, both owned by Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota and Lexus hybrids both have the same score for overall satisfaction and for likelihood to recommend, our key touchstones for selecting an award winner. They also have an even slice of top ratings for subcategories. This one is too close to call, so they both earn our Readers’ Choice Award for hybrids.
Lexus has incredibly high ratings for reliability and service and repairs. Toyota isn’t far behind, plus it has high scores for cost, driving range (tied with Honda), and working with tech like CarPlay and Android Auto.
When buying a hybrid, purchasing a Lexus or Toyota should be your first thought.
For our in-depth reviews, read The Best Electric Cars for 2024.
The Top Home Charger & Charging Network Brands for 2024
When you buy an electric vehicle (or a PHEV) you typically get a charger that plugs into a standard 120V AC outlet. Serious EV owners will opt to install a full home charging system that runs off their home electricity at 240V. That’s the difference between having Level 1 (the outlet) and Level 2. It’s also the difference between days of charging for a full EV vs just hours.
In our survey, only three Level 2 charging systems had enough responses to make the cut: ChargePoint, Enel X (which makes JuiceBox-brand chargers), and Tesla. Based on the range in the overall satisfaction scores, readers have vastly different opinions on these systems than they do about their EVs.
Tesla crushes it here with high satisfaction ratings and top scores in most subcategories. It ties second-place ChargePoint on setup and installation, reliability, and recommendation. ChargePoint leads the pack for ease of use, though.
Enel X’s scores are all at the bottom, probably because it ceased US operations without any warning in October.
The other way people charge EVs and PHEVs is at public charging stations. There are several charging station networks in the US, and the largest is ChargePoint, with 38,500 locations. Tesla has its Supercharger network with 6,750 locations, while Volkswagen subsidiary ElectrifyAmerica has about 950. They offer Level 3 charging, so a power-up generally only takes minutes, not hours. There are also thousands of non-network charging stations, according to U.S.News and World Report.
Those top three networks were the only names to earn enough survey responses to make our list of winners. And across the board, winning in every measure is the Tesla Supercharger. It’s used mostly by Tesla owners, but the company now has its V3 Superchargers open to select other EV brands if the vehicle owners have an adapter to make the plug fit. Still, most of our survey responses for the Supercharger network came from respondents who also rated Tesla vehicles, so it’s little wonder they give it high marks.
More isn’t always better. Despite having a larger network of charging stations, ChargePoint is an entire point and a half behind Tesla for overall satisfaction. There are similar gulfs on most of the scores. The network simply does not enthuse users. The scores are even worse for ElectrifyAmerica’s offering.
The Top Route Planning & Charger Network Location Apps for 2024
EV and PHEV owners often use charger network location apps to find nearby charging locations, especially when planning longer trips. In some cases, you can run them on the car's dash.
The top pick for routing your way to a charger is via the Tesla app—again, via feedback provided by Tesla drivers. Yet there’s certainly no denying that the Tesla ratings are the highest. It’s definitely worthy of our Readers’ Choice Award. The Tesla app does more than find chargers—it’s also a primary diagnostic tool for the vehicle.
We’re also giving a Readers’ Choice Award to the second-place PlugShare, since it's the top vehicle-agnostic application on our list and can be used by anyone—not just Tesla owners. This app (which launched all the way back in 2009 and is now owned by charging network EVgo) was one of the first to track as many charging station options as possible in the US. It doesn’t hurt that the data is partially crowdsourced.
PlugShare does more than help users find charging stations. It also facilitates charger payments. If your EV can support a browser, PlugShare’s website mimics all the mobile functions on the dashboard screen.
Readers are much less enthusiastic about ABRP (A Better Route Planner) or even using Google Maps, even if it is a PCMag Editors’ Choice pick.
For more, read Everything You Need to Know About Charging an Electric Car and How to Find Free Electric Car Charging Stations.
The PCMag Readers’ Choice survey for Electric Vehicles was in the field from October 4 to December 9, 2024. For more information on how we conduct surveys, read the survey methodology.
Ben Gottesman contributed to this article.