eMobility Public Charging Study 2025
Charging behaviour and charging decisions at (semi-)public charging locations
The Public Charging Study on electric cars surveys the usage habits, experiences and expectations of EV owners when charging in public spaces, in retail environments and at the workplace:
- How and where do EV drivers charge today? Which criteria determine where they choose to charge? What is the impact of charging price compared with performance features?
- How does charging behaviour change as new EV adopter segments enter the market?
- What problems do charging customers face today? What needs do they identify?
- Are there differences between the various target groups?
For the study, EV drivers in Germany were surveyed online between September and October 2025. The samples are as follows:
- N = 2,773 total
- N = 1,599 on public charging
- N = 1,197 on charging in retail environments
- N = 1,153 on charging at the workplace
Data on (semi-)public charging behaviour for 2025 is also available for France, the UK, Belgium, Sweden and Norway. Data for Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the USA and China is available for 2023.
Content and added value of the Public Charging Study
Content of the Public Charging Study
Segmentation characteristics:
- Demographics of EV drivers (age, gender, income)
- Housing situation (size of city, residence, owner / tenant of flat, own car park)
- Vehicle (brand, company car, real range, AC/DC charging capacity)
- Driving habits (usage situations, mileage per year and per weekday, general usage habits)
General charging behaviour:
- Charging locations
- Energy volumes by charging location
- Importance of charging locations for respondents’ own charging behaviour
- Charging occasions
- Charging routines
- Reasons for not charging at home
- Types of charging
- Overall satisfaction with public charging (by feature: signage, apps, status displays, waiting times, occupation by non-charging vehicles, size of parking spaces, cleanliness, safety, amenities in the surrounding area, number of AC/DC charge points)
- Improvements in public charging over the past 12 months
Charge planning / route planning:
- Charging concerns and planning behaviour on long-distance trips
- Charging point search: systems used, key filter options, general charging planning
- Route planning: systems used, key functions
- Use of price-comparison apps and apps used
Facilities at the loading point (KANO):
- Kano analysis of amenities at charging hubs (covered charging area, covered/shaded seating, windscreen cleaning facilities at the charger, vacuum cleaner at the charger, tyre inflation at the charger, Wi-Fi, green space away from the road, low traffic noise).
Criteria for charging decision (CONJOINT simulator tool)
- Conjoint survey on the use case “en‑route charging decision”
Attributes surveyed:- Maximum charging power (150 kW / 300 kW)
- Toilets (yes / no)
- Food and drinks (vending machine / café / restaurant / shopping options)
- Safety (bright lighting / cameras / busy surroundings)
- Charging price (slightly lower / average / slightly higher)
- Total number of charge points at the site (4 / 8 / 12)
- Current occupancy (all free / half free / only one free)
- Detour from your route (none / 1 km / 3 km)
- Conjoint survey on the use case “destination charging in the city”
Attributes surveyed:- Location (on-street / retail location / fast-charging hub)
- Charging power (22 kW / 50 kW / 150 kW / 300 kW)
- Distance (100 m / 1 km / 3 km)
- Number of charge points (2 / 4 / 8)
- Current occupancy (all free / half free / only one free)
- Charging price (average / 10% higher than average / 10% lower than average)
- Surrounding amenities (none / supermarket / specialist retail / restaurant/café)
- Additional parking fees (yes / no)
- Preferred eMSP/CPO charging services
- Affinity towards different CPO provider groups (fuel station brands, energy utilities, municipal utilities, dedicated EV charging specialists, retailers)
- Perception and use of promotions
- Accessibility at the charging point (affectedness, relevant aspects)
Usability at the charging station (UI/UX)
- Separated by Alpitronic HYC300 vs. other charging stations:
- Evaluation of the UX at the charging point (clarity of instructions, clarity of screens and displays, connecting the plug, handling the charging cable, identifying and selecting the correct charging port, starting, monitoring and stopping the session, overall operation of the charge point)
- Specific problems when operating the charge point (intuitive user guidance/menus, clarity of symbols, font size, irrelevant information on the charger, charging cable too short, unclear sequence of “plug in cable” and “authenticate”, complicated authentication process, complicated payment process, missing/unclear feedback from the charger)
- Charging monitoring (methods used)
- Relevant information for monitoring (live feedback on backend processes, estimated completion time to 80%/100%, current charging speed, current state of charge (SoC), target state of charge (SoC), current charging curve, projected charging costs)
- Overall satisfaction with charge point operation
- Preferred payment methods at the charging point
Charging problems and satisfaction:
- Charging issues (type and frequency)
- Perceived relevance of charging issues
- Perceived parties responsible for charging issues
- Overall satisfaction with public charging
- [Open text] The perfect charging experience
Support at the charging station:
- Contact with support
- Reasons for not contacting support despite needing to
- Overall satisfaction with support (time spent on hold, clarity of user guidance/telephone menu, friendliness and competence of staff, problem solving, willingness to be accommodating)
Charging in retail:
- Impact of charging availability on the choice of retailer visited (supermarket, shopping centre, DIY store, furniture store, restaurant, hotel, gym)
- Retail charging: “shopping while charging” vs. “charging while shopping”
- Spillover effects between the retail brand and the CPO provider brand
- Satisfaction with charging in retail environments (reliability, service, payment options, number of AC/DC chargers, occupation by non-charging vehicles, locations and signage, surroundings such as cleanliness/lighting, information and support in case of problems)
- From the 2024 study: interest in linking the charging session with loyalty cards or Payback-style schemes and variable tariffs depending on the shopping basket value
Charging at the employer’s premises:
- Drivers of the attractiveness of workplace charging
- Impact of tariffs on willingness to use workplace charging
- Satisfaction with workplace charging (number of charging points, reliability, payment options, ease of use, surroundings, locations and signage, occupation by non-charging vehicles, information and support in case of problems)
- Company cars:
- From the 2024 study:
Target group of the survey
The target group was chosen in such a way that all respondents specifically talk about experiences with charging locations where they actually charge regularly. On average, the respondents have had their e-car for two years, i.e. sufficient experience with charging.
Added value and benefits for manufacturers and operators of public charging infrastructure, retailers and employers
The study is mainly aimed at manufacturers and operators as well as service providers in the environment of public charging infrastructure, retailers and employers.
Charging services in public spaces, retail outlets and employers are still at an early stage of development. Moreover, standards for many functions and features are only slowly developing. The extensive survey and the high sample size provide a precise picture of not only the current user behaviour but also problems and needs. The study shows both what expectations and wishes e-car drivers have. This allows charging technology manufacturers, operators and service providers to prioritise their investments and focus them on the offers that lead to the highest demand, the highest customer loyalty and thus the highest sales. In addition, for retailers, the study shows the potential to attract e-car drivers to their shops with the right charging offer, motivating them to stay longer in the shop and make more purchases. Furthermore, for employers, the study shows how a charging offer must be designed to be attractive for employees.
Dashboard for analysis
Many exciting findings only become apparent when the results are evaluated according to different customer groups. Hence, providers can target their offers in a differentiated way to different user segments. Thanks to the high sample size, subscribers to the study can not only split the results in the interactive dashboard as they wish, but also analyse the results obtained in detail. In addition, the dashboard shows over 7,500 pre-clustered verbatim mentions of the respondents.
USCALE focus studies: User studies on electromobility
Since 2018, USCALE has been systematically surveying EV drivers about their expectations and experiences at all touchpoints of the e-mobile customer journey. Additionally, you can find an overview of all USCALE focus studies HERE.
We also show extracts from other studies in the LinkedIn articles by USCALE and Axel Sprenger, our company founder.
If you have any questions, please contact us at contact@uscale.digital.