Electric vehicle After-Sales Study 2023

E-car drivers’ experiences with the brands after-sales service, the manufacturer’s hotline and software updates

The study surveys the experiences of e-car drivers in the first years of use. The survey focused on experiences with the workshop and the manufacturer hotline.

The EV after-sales study was conducted online in May and June 2023 among 2,154 e-car drivers in the DACH region.

CONTENTS AND ADDED VALUE OF THE EV AFER SALES STUDY

Content of the EV After-Sales Study

Segmentation criteria:

  • Place of purchase, new vs. used car
  • Driving habits (mileage per year and per weekday, frequency of long-distance journeys)
  • Company car
  • Workshop or service type (safety-oriented, technology-oriented, workshop-averse)

Workshop visit:

  • Work carried out (last stay)
  • Type of contact vs. preferred type of contact
  • Reasons for choosing a workshop
  • Comparison offers
  • Timely and complete execution of the work (reasons if not)
  • Satisfaction with the workshop (friendliness of the staff, advice, impression of the workshop, short notice, speed of execution, quality of the work, explanation of the work, cost estimate, price / performance)
  • Compensation for repair duration > 2 weeks
  • E-car as a replacement vehicle
  • Free recharging during workshop visit
  • NPS Workshop
  • Recommendations to brand and dealer for workshop
  • Trust in brand workshops, independent workshops and workshop chains
  • Evaluation of service and repair costs compared to the combustion engine
  • Newsletter of the workshop, general interest in and value of newsletters

Service hotline:

  • Hotline experience
  • Reason for contact
  • Type of contact, preferred contact, satisfaction with contact
  • Omni-channel experience
  • Satisfaction with the hotline in general
  • Disappointing experiences, surprisingly positive experiences
  • Recommendations to hotline operators
  • Interest in additional service ideas

Digital services:

  • Use of paid digital services, services used
  • Type of use
  • Desire for chargeable extension after expiry
  • Desired services in general

Software updates:

  • Updates received
  • Workshop visit necessary for update
  • Type of updates
  • Update problems
  • Recommendations for updates

Data protection:

  • Sufficient information on data protection
  • Trust / concerns about abuse
  • Sense of disturbance regarding the use of data by third parties

Battery checks:

  • Interest in regular battery checks
  • Trust in different providers
  • Interest in battery checks when selling a vehicle, buying a used car
Target group of the survey

Only owners and drivers of fully battery-electric e-cars were surveyed for the study. The average holding period of the respondents was 2.5 years. This ensured that all respondents had sufficient experience with the after-sales processes of the dealers and manufacturers.

Added value and benefit for manufacturers and operators of charging infrastructure

The study is mainly aimed at after-sales organisations of vehicle manufacturers and importers (NSCs), workshop operators and dealer developers.

The study shows what expectations e-car drivers have of communication processes and on-site support and with which offers they can be successfully addressed. The study shows the strengths and weaknesses of competitors and enables benchmarking of own after-sales processes.

The EV After-Sales Study provides KPIs for important process steps in after-sales and hotline operations. After-sales experts can evaluate and improve their own competitive position. Furthermore, the study provides a sound basis for designing and adapting dealer training to the needs of eMobility. Furthermore, the study offers product managers of connectivity services and other services, such as battery checks, valuable information on the acceptance and development of corresponding offers.

Dashboard for analysis

Many exciting findings only become apparent when the results are evaluated separately according to important customer groups. This allows providers to target their offers to different user segments in a differentiated way. Thanks to the high sample size, subscribers to the study can split the results in the interactive dashboard as they wish and analyse them in detail. In addition, the dashboard shows all pre-clustered verbatim mentions of the respondents.

UScale Focus Studies: User studies on electromobility

Since 2018, UScale has been systematically surveying e-car drivers about their expectations and experiences at all touchpoints of the e-mobile customer journey. An overview with all UScale Focus Studies can be found HERE.

If you have any questions, please contact us at contact@uscale.digital.