Unveiling the 2024 China New Energy Vehicle Product Appeal Index

In Shanghai on May 30, 2024, the world-leading consumer insights and market research firm J.D. Power|Jun Di released the 2024 China New Energy Vehicle Product Appeal Index Study SM (NEV-APEAL). This is the fourth year that J.D. Power has released this study in China. The study measures the various experiences of new energy vehicle owners within 2 to 6 months of purchasing and driving the vehicle. Utilizing J.D. Power’s unique consumer satisfaction index model, it assesses the owners’ perception and satisfaction with the product appeal of new energy vehicles in aspects such as vehicle ownership, driving, and energy replenishment. It is an important reference for automakers to design and develop new energy products.

The research data indicates that the product appeal of the 2024 Chinese new energy vehicle market continues to rise. The overall industry score is 789 points (out of 1,000 points), an increase of 13 points compared to last year. The progress rate has slowed down compared to 2023 (+37 points), but still reflects the high recognition of the product power of Chinese new energy vehicles by consumers. Among the various brand camps, the overall product appeal index of international/ joint venture brands reaches 800 points, leading the entire industry. And the independent new force brands (798 points) have made the greatest progress, an increase of 17 points compared to last year, and the product power has been further recognized by users. Among the scoring factors, the weight of fuel economy and cruising range has decreased the most (-2.2%), and its charm index (796 points) has improved the most (+16 points) compared to last year. The reduction in attention and the improvement in satisfaction both indicate that users’ anxiety about cruising range has eased. While the scoring weight of safety has increased by 1.5 percentage points compared to last year, reaching 8.4%, reflecting the increasing attention of new energy users to safety.

Yang Tao, general manager of J.D. Power’s China Automobile Product Division, said: “International/ joint venture brands continue to progress in the new energy field. They rely on the brand and product advantages accumulated in the fuel vehicle era to launch a counterattack, and the product appeal performance is outstanding. And as the range anxiety of Chinese new energy consumers gradually reduces, users are increasingly focusing on product safety and driving experience, which is also a sign of the maturity of the Chinese new energy market. This year, although the industry average score of new energy product appeal has increased, the increase is less than last year, indicating that excessive involution of products has a limited effect on improving the user experience. Insights into user needs and avoiding product homogeneity can design a real hit product.”

Other findings of the study:

The design of new energy vehicle models continues to progress, and personalized car colors are highly favored. In 2024, the overall charm index of the appearance design of new energy vehicles is 818 points, an increase of 11 points compared to last year. In the preference choice of appearance design, among the owners who purchased personalized body colors, 26% regarded the color as their favorite aspect, which is much higher than that of the owners who purchased traditional body colors, reflecting that personalized colors are more favored by users.

In terms of vehicle performance and driving experience, pure electric models perform better. In terms of vehicle performance, last year plug-in hybrid models led in engine/motor sound, power, and smoothness, but this year all these aspects have been reversed by pure electric models, and the gap in engine/motor sound is the largest. In terms of driving feel, plug-in hybrid models have also fallen behind in aspects such as vehicle ride comfort, steering/handling feel, and braking performance, and the gap is particularly obvious in low-speed driving scenarios in suburban and elevated roads.

The energy replenishment experience is getting better and better, but the slow charging speed still has room for improvement. The study shows that the overall score of the charging experience link has increased significantly (+14 points), but the slow charging speed is the lowest-scoring element in this link, and the gap with other items is large. The average slow charging duration in 2024 is 7.1 hours, a reduction of 0.5 hours compared to 2023, but the current slow charging duration still has a large gap from the user’s expectations, and the relevant experience urgently needs to be improved.

The highest-ranked new energy vehicles:

A total of 12 models from nine market segments won awards in the 2024 China New Energy Vehicle Product Appeal Index Study SM (NEV-APEAL). There are no awards in the market segments of small pure electric SUV, luxury plug-in hybrid, mainstream plug-in hybrid MPV, and mainstream pure electric MPV because they do not meet the award conditions for market segments [1]. The models that won awards in their respective market segments are:

Small pure electric sedan market segment: BYD Seagull.

Compact pure electric sedan market segment: Geely Geometry A Pro, Volkswagen ID.3.

Compact pure electric SUV market segment: BYD Yuan Plus.

Medium pure electric sedan market segment: NIO ET5/ET5T, Tesla Model 3.

Medium pure electric SUV market segment: Volkswagen ID.4 Crozz.

Large pure electric market segment: Zeekr 001.

Luxury pure electric market segment: NIO ES6.

Mainstream plug-in hybrid sedan market segment: BYD Han PHEV, Changan SL03 (extended-range).

Mainstream plug-in hybrid SUV market segment: AITO M5 (extended-range).

The 2024 China New Energy Vehicle Product Appeal Index Study SM (NEV-APEAL) measures the owners’ perception and satisfaction with the product appeal of new energy vehicles in various aspects of the new vehicle, involving 45 elements in 11 vehicle performance categories (appearance design, setup and start-up, getting in/out of the vehicle, interior trim of the vehicle, vehicle performance, driving feel, sense of security, in-vehicle infotainment system, ride comfort, fuel economy and cruising range, and charging experience). The 2024 study is based on the real feedback of 9,937 owners who purchased vehicles between June 2023 and January 2024. The study covers 105 models of 48 brands, of which 74 models have reached a sufficient sample size. The data collection work was carried out in 81 major cities between December 2023 and March 2024.