Electric cars have more accidents than petrol or diesel vehicles, according to insurance data.
Owners of electric vehicles are 56 per cent more likely to make a claim on their policy than owners of petrol cars, figures from the insurance group Howden show.
Last year, one in every 12 people who owned an electric car made a claim, compared with about one in every 20 with a petrol vehicle.
The higher claim frequency is one of the reasons why the cost of cover is so much greater for electric cars. Howden reported that the average premium for an electric car is now Β£1,211 a year, having risen by 62 per cent during the past two years.
By comparison, cars with a traditional combustion engine cost only Β£691 a year to insure on average.
Carl Shuker, the chief executive of Howden UK & Ireland, believes that electric cars are involved in more accidents because they are βperformance vehiclesβ that take a while to get used to driving.
He explained: βThey all perform like the old Golf GTI, there is a lot more power than other vehicles, which means more day-to-day impacts and higher claims. The frequency of claims is really important (for setting the premium).
βFifty-nine per cent of our clients have only owned a new electric car for one year or less. More people are experimenting with electric vehicles and the first three to four months are the riskiest as people get used to the car, which might explain the higher claim frequency.β
β’ My (stressful) drive from Landβs End to John oβ Groats in an EV
However, there is good news for electric car owners. The data suggests that although they are involved in more accidents, fewer drivers are getting injured in those accidents.
The data shows that only 1 per cent of electric car premiums are paid out to compensate policyholders for bodily injuries, compared with 10 per cent of the premiums for petrol and diesel vehicles. Shuker believes this is down to electric cars being more modern on average and therefore having the latest safety technology.
Shuker explained: βElectric cars are a newer population of vehicles so have better safety technology whereas the petrol or diesel vehicles out there can be up to 30 or 40 years old.β
He also said that the average age of people driving electric vehicles is another factor. The Howden data shows that nearly three quarters of electric car drivers are over the age of 40. Shuker believes they are therefore βmore mature and sensibleβ and less likely to get into the sort of serious accidents where people are injured.
The data also showed that the average cost of repairing electric cars is more expensive on average, which is another reason why their insurance premiums are higher.
The average electric vehicle costs Β£3,784 to repair after an accident, compared with Β£3,076 for a diesel and Β£3,371 for a petrol car. Howden said the higher repair costs were because EVs had more features on average while the batteries are βvery expensive and prone to damageβ.
Shuker said: βIf you bump the bumper in an EV, for example, it will have all sorts of cameras that might get damaged.β
Another issue he highlighted was that repair workshops needed more space to repair electric cars because of the greater risk of fires.
β’ My electric BMW blew up and destroyed eight shops
βThey have to have designated repair areas for electric vehicles so the whole building doesnβt go down if one goes up. Also battery fires are harder to put out so you need specialist equipment to put them out. The cost of spare parts is also much higher.
βImporting parts is also more complicated, especially from specialist EV manufacturers where the focus is more on manufacturing than repair.β
Shuker said that the cost differential between electric and petrol car insurance was not likely to close soon. βInsurers have to invest heavily in repair shop capacity to be able to restore EVs. The slight worry coming down the line is there wonβt be the same competition (between insurers) because small insurers donβt have the scale to make that level of investment. So the smaller insurers wonβt offer cover or be competitive enough on price when they do.β
Many accidents take place in the first few months after an EV is purchased
GETTY IMAGES
Geoff Smith, of Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex, has owned his fully electric Volkswagen ID for three years now and has been happy with his purchase. However, Smith, 62, said he was βshockedβ when his insurer tried to nearly triple the cost of his cover earlier this month. βEven the woman on the phone was shocked. She couldnβt explain why,β he said.
His insurer, Saga, wouldnβt budge on the price so he went to a price comparison website and found cheaper cover through a special offer with Aviva for Β£415. However, that was the only deal that was much better than Sagaβs renewal quote so he felt he was lucky to get it.
Smith said he was not entirely surprised that electric cars had more dings because the acceleration, even on his Volkswagen ID, could be βquite zippyβ.
He said: βI did my research before I bought so I expected it to go when you put your foot down. But when I first had it, I still spun the tyres one or two times. And that made me think. But you get used to it and Iβve never had an accident. That still didnβt seem to help me get cheaper cover though.β
0-60mph in broadly equivalent models:
β’ Ford Puma Gen-E (Electric), 8 seconds vs 10.2 seconds, Ford Puma 1.0 EcoBoost (Petrol)β’ Mini Countryman SE ALL4 (Electric), 5.6 seconds vs 7 seconds, Mini Countryman Cooper S (Petrol)β’ Porsche Taycan Turbo Weissach (Electric), 2.2 seconds vs 2.3 seconds, Porsche 911 Turbo (Electric)β’ Hyundai IONIQ 5 N (Electric), 3.4 seconds vs 8.8 seconds, Hyundai Tucson (Petrol)β’ Mercedes-Benz AMG EQS 53 (Electric), 3.4 seconds vs 4.5 seconds, Mercedes-Benz S-Class (Petrol)β’ Audi e-tron GT S (Electric), 3.4 seconds vs 3.5 seconds, Audi RS7 Sportback (Petrol)
