The new problem facing electric car owners. And we are talking about insuring their cars, since in Great Britain insurers have managed to prevail against accusations of speculation with the price of insuring electric cars. They had been accused of speculating on the price given the big difference there was with cars with a combustion engine. But after having refuted these accusations, customers are faced with prices of no less than double.
And something similar happens in Spain. The latest study published by the Organization of Consumers and Users, the OCU, warned that insurance for electric cars was on average 17% more expensive than for cars with a combustion engine. And this was, at first, strange, since the maintenance cost of an electric car is more affordable given the smaller number of parts it has and the lack of a gearbox and other characteristics of the combustion engine.
But the OCU pointed out that repairing the battery of an electric vehicle with great autonomy could cost up to 30,000 euros. And, depending on the severity of the accident, the insurer would have to assume the cost of replacing it, and this makes the bill that the insurer would have to face and, therefore, the risk much more expensive. All this could explain the increase in prices compared to a combustion car.
In this way, car insurers in Great Britain have refuted accusations of profiteering after the 50 percent increase in the cost of insuring an electric vehicle in 2023. The insurers’ response is that there is little they can do, according to them, and that premiums are determined by the costs and frequency of homeowner claims. That easy…
According to them, damages in accidents with electric vehicles are 35 percent more expensive to repair than those with vehicles with a combustion engine. With this reality that insurers expose, we reached insurance premiums for electric vehicles that increased an average of about 1,344 pounds, about 1,576 euros, according to Bloomberg. Insurers said this was due to the high cost of repairs, the shortage of mechanics trained in the maintenance of electric vehicles and the prolonged time in the garage for these vehicles, according to them.
“Repair times are increasing, component costs are increasing, and we will likely see more EVs written off because residual values are particularly low right now,” said Carl Shuker of Howden Group Holding. CEO for the United Kingdom and Ireland. In this way, owners of electric vehicles face a notable increase in insurance rates in the United Kingdom and other countries, paying double what internal combustion cars pay. One more stone in the way for the correct proliferation of electric cars, in an uncertain present that leaves distrust in this type of car.