Research from Loop has revealed customers are significantly more satisfied with the experience of buying an internal combustion engine car (ICE) compared with an electric vehicles (EV).
Loop, which brings together sales, aftersales and other metrics, analysed the overall satisfaction score for ICE vehicles, and discovered that they were 17.5 points higher than for an EV in the first half of 2025.
Due to the more complex sales process, the customer satisfaction benchmark is lower for EV sales (70), it claims. But despite this, some two fifths (43%) don’t hit the target level demonstrating the need for an improved sales process and training.
The analysis by Loop also revealed service plans are more important than ever for customer retention and dealership success, with research showing a 1% increase in service plan penetration is associated with a 0.49% increase in market share.
Simon Porri, CEO at Loop, said:
“The data shows EV is a completely different beast in terms of product, customer type and process and there is a steep learning curve which is reflected in the CSI scores. Alongside customer satisfaction, service plan penetration remains key to customer retention and ultimately success for dealers.
“To retain EV customers, OEMs and dealers need to track EV-specific sales and customer service performance to isolate what’s working and where. This enables the replication of top-performing behaviours across the dealer network.
“There is also a significant need to upskill on EV consultative selling. Dealerships and OEMs need to invest in further training around EV product positioning, benefits beyond range and charging to reassure customers about wide ranging concerns including range anxiety, charging infrastructure, costs, battery lifespan, resale value amongst others.”
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