The argument that dragged on for years just ended — and it did not end in gasoline’s favor.
J.D. Power has published the results of its 2026 APEAL study, and owners of battery-electric vehicles in the US rated their cars higher than owners of combustion-engine models in almost every single category. Almost every one. Let that sink in.
Satisfaction with electric cars jumped 22 points in a year — the largest improvement of any powertrain type. But the real rout happened exactly where combustion had been considered untouchable for decades. In powertrain satisfaction, EVs beat gas models by 109 points on a 1000-point scale. Not five points. Not ten. One hundred and nine.
The overall satisfaction index among owners of new 2026 model-year vehicles reached 858 points, up by seven — the biggest annual gain since 2018. The study measured 37 attributes: comfort, design, practicality, performance and how easy the technology is to live with.
The survey covered 78,514 owners who had lived with their car for its first 90 days. Data was collected from June 2025 through May 2026. A sample that size leaves no room for coincidence.
