It finally happened. After years of dominating J.D. Power’s owner satisfaction surveys, Tesla’s portfolio has been dethroned by electric vehicles made by so-called traditional automakers.
Tesla’s decline in the U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, now in its 29th year, has been long in the making, and now that so-called "legacy" car brands are finally figuring out what customers want from EVs, the outcome comes as another hard hit to the Elon Musk-led company, after the sales decline recorded in the past few quarters.
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Less love for Tesla from new owners
For the first time in years, new owners have ranked EVs made by so-called traditional automakers higher than those made by Tesla in J.D. Power's U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study which measures people’s emotional attachment and level of excitement.
“Traditional manufacturers have listened to the voice of the customer,” said Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power. “They’re launching enhanced vehicles that are more in line with what customers want, including improved interior storage and higher quality materials, as well as ensuring features have ease of use. For BEVs, recent launches from traditional manufacturers have surpassed perennial leader Tesla when it comes to owners’ level of emotional attachment and excitement with their new vehicle.”
The study measures owners’ satisfaction with new vehicle design and performance and measures people’s emotional attachment and level of excitement on a 1,000-point scale. For this year’s results, J.D. Power analyzed over 99,000 responses from owners who were asked to rank new, 2024-model-year vehicles on 37 attributes after 90 days of ownership.
In the case of non-Tesla all-electric vehicles, owner satisfaction is at an all-time high of 877 points, surpassing Tesla’s 870 points. However, as mentioned above, the Model 3’s maker has been on a downward trend for a few years now.
In 2020, it scored 896 points, followed by 893 points in 2021, 887 points in 2022 and 878 points last year. It’s also worth noting that Tesla was officially included in the industry calculation for the first time in 2022 but even then, it wouldn’t allow J.D. Power to access owner information in the states where that permission is required by law. As a result, Tesla is not eligible for awards from J.D. Power.
Meanwhile, the average score obtained by non-Tesla EVs gradually went up from 838 in 2022 to 840 last year and now to 877. Gasoline cars scored 842 points overall this year, followed by plug-in hybrids with 841 points.
Rivian got the highest score overall with 900 points, but it was left out of the official ranking because, as J.D. Power puts it, “[the] brand is not rank-eligible because it does not meet study award criteria.” Presumably, that's for the same reasons as Tesla, but Rivian as a brand has scored highly in other studies too.
The Genesis GV60, Kia EV6, Kia EV9, BMW iX and Porsche Taycan received awards for the highest-ranking EVs in their respective segments. Including plug-in hybrids and gasoline models, Hyundai Motor Group got the most awards at seven, followed by BMW AG with four and Toyota Motor Corporation with three.
The main reason for this reversal is the fact that Tesla’s portfolio has remained mostly unchanged for several years. Except for the Model 3, which was facelifted last year, the Model Y, Model S and Model X are all getting a bit long in the tooth, at least looks-wise, which opens the door for newcomers from other brands to swoop in and impress wannabe shoppers with their fresh designs. While the Cybertruck is new this year and apparently selling well, the more mainstream parts of the Tesla lineup are lagging behind competitors.
Furthermore, new-gen EVs from traditional automakers sometimes offer more range and better interior materials than Tesla, according to J.D. Power, which also takes a toll on the scoreboard.
