The United States Department of Energy has selected the J.D. Power EV Index to establish benchmarks and monitor the ongoing development of EV infrastructure in America.

J.D. Power, well known for their data analytics and consumer insight, has developed the EV Index as a tool to “track the growing electric vehicle market in the United States.” It’s believed that this new tool will provide the DoE with information regarding regional trends in infrastructure growth, highlighting potential barriers to widespread consumer EV adoption.

According to J.D. Power, their EV index is able to track millions of data points, categorized into six areas of concern– interest, availability, adoption, infrastructure and experience. The results are updated monthly, and thus far has “consistently found that lack of public charging infrastructure has been the top consumer barrier to EV adoption.” 

“Universally accessible, equitable, and reliable EV charging infrastructure is a cornerstone to widespread consumer adoption of EVs,” said Michael Berube, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Sustainable Transportation and Fuels in DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “It is critical that we consistently evaluate detailed trends in the availability of public chargers, specific obstacles consumers face with the existing charging network, and regional variations in consumer demand to ensure resilient grid infrastructure, provide adequate EV charging capacity and coverage, and support access to EVs by all Americans.”

The results, while accounting for the US as a whole, can be boiled down to regional trends, even localized to ZIP Code level.  Doug Betts, president of the J.D. Power automotive division, cited the fast-paced nature of the EV space and the importance of having this level of insight readily available.

“The EV space is moving so quickly that the major policy, strategy and regulatory decisions that are being made today have the power to dramatically alter the course of the future of the automobile,” said Betts. “We created the EV Index to help key stakeholders make informed decisions based on the most comprehensive data available tracking EV adoption, affordability, infrastructure and several other factors that provide a complete view of the EV landscape in real-time. Infrastructure data at a ZIP code level can be used as effective building blocks to measure the progress of infrastructure creation for many different participants.”

DoE research with EV Index data will be conducted by Argonne National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary science and engineering research center. Claus Daniel, Argonne associate laboratory director for advanced energy technologies, noted that the EV Index will provide a better understanding of current infrastructure and “support decision making that moves the nation closer to its clean transportation and climate goals.”