The move to electric cars ...higher insurance costs!

[Piethagoram]

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/sep/30/the-quotes-were-5000-or-more-electric-vehicle-owners-face-soaring-insurance-costs

[Fan of Big Tone]

At first reading this the chap interviewed said his insurance was over £4,000 and I thought “wow who can afford that?” Then I realised he owned a Tesla model Y which costs around £45,000, we’ll no wonder the insurance company want a huge dividend to cover a car that costly.

[Chris]

@Fan of Big Tone they are the electric BMW in terms of drivers.

At some point people will be disgruntled that the price of road tax for electric cars will go up, I have no idea if some still manage to get road tax for free. I've told Jake, he should wait for a better hybrid to come out and go for that when he learns to drive. Well, once passed his driving test!

[Fan of Big Tone]

@Chris I think hybrid is a good idea my car is unleaded but I’ll be looking at hybrid next time.

[liampie]

i dont know why anyone would want to own a telsa, other than to show off. they are not very nicely designed and look awful in my opinion. i would pay more insurance to not see them on our roads.

its crazy what some people will pay. 

[Ohh Tommy Johnson]

I have a Hyundai EV and love it even though the range is only a shade over 120 miles (it forces me to take breaks, but long journeys become very long).  I am about to get a new car thanks to work.  I looked long and hard at a Tesla, but I couldn't do it for all the reasons above plus I don't like Elon Musk.  

[Piethagoram]

 

[Ohh Tommy Johnson]

My daughter has just passed her test £470 for 5 months insurance and that is on my insurance.  The other takes her test next month so I'll be looking at another hike then (they are both students). 

I was lucky enough to be on the company car scheme and will hopefully be getting a new car by May (when my insurance needs renewing).  If I get that sorted then I'll be getting an IC car for them, which will be cheaper for them.  

I did do some looking into the cost of insuring an EV, and apparently it comes down to the fact that they are basically a 1 tonne Li ion battery, which are perceived to spontaneously burst into flames.  I would say that is a far less frequent event than an IC car catching fire, but I have no figures to back that up.  It feels like an excuse to hike the premium to me.  

[Piethagoram]

I think there is a real problem with the accident repair companies. There seems to be so much consolidation in recent years, the few companies left seemingly hike their prices, resulting in higher insurance premiums for all?

[Ohh Tommy Johnson]

1 minute ago, Piethagoram said:

I think there is a real problem with the accident repair companies. There seems to be so much consolidation in recent years, the few companies left seemingly hike their prices, resulting in higher insurance premiums for all?

Good point.  There is a stack or criteria that these companies need to meet, some seemingly trivial but expensive, that it prices out smaller operators too.

[Piethagoram]

A friend unfortunately accidently hit a small bollard in Sainsburys, he was confident that he was willing to pay up to £1,000 for damage to the door. The quote was £3k to repair, so had to put in through the insurance

[Robbie]

I won't be buying an EV anytime soon, they are expensive to buy, the range is pathetic, they are dangerous, (liable to set on fire), the 2nd hand value is terrible, the insurance is extortionate, there are not enough charging points, and people just cannot afford them new.

They are very heavy too and are churning up the surfaces of all our roads, causing widespread damage such as potholes etc. And, they are putting up the cost of insurance for every road vehicle user.

The date to scrap petrol and Diesel Cars should be suspended and people have the choice to buy what they want, for as long as they want.

[Ohh Tommy Johnson]

woah - I'm in the wrong business,  I used to take mine to a really good body shop, but they now take written off commercial vans with some cosmetic damage, repair them and then sell them on. They say there is no money in just doing the accident repairs as the mark up on the vans is vast compared to the repairs.

[Ohh Tommy Johnson]

@robbie Things have moved on... EVs have much longer ranges these days.  My current EV has a range of 120 miles, which means I stop every 2 hours so is no bad thing.  The new one I am looking at is over 400miles.. although if I get the 'performance model' it will be closer to 320.  The charging network is better, but you are right it is much harder to charge than fill up with petrol.  However, with the longer range I would be able to mostly charge at home so that would be less of a problem.  A new car is eye wateringly expensive though.. and somewhat unnecessarily so, as they are far simpler than an internal combustion engine - the same goes for servicing.  All they need to do is check the resistance on the cables, brakes, steering and tyres etc and yet they charge the same as for a full service on a petrol or diesel car. Insurance is also very high, probably as a result of profiteering as the Insurance companies have all the information to show that EVs do not catch fire as often as IC cars which they present as the reason for high premiums. The setting on fire issue is simply not true ( the risk is about 10x lower than an internal combustion car - Australian government, Norwegian and Swedish government figures show this.  Our government doesn't produce figures).  I can't comment on resale value, but I am looking to sell mine soon, so I will be able to tell you.  One reason is that people think that the batteries degrade, which they do and they are expensive to replace, but mine has done 70000miles and I have noticed no degradation at all so far.  The range is pretty much the same as when I brought it nearly new, maybe 2 or 3 miles less per full charge. 

My EV is a lot lighter than the lorries that use the same roads as me so I am not sure how much damage I do in comparison.  Cheap, poor repairs is more likely the cause than EVs - water gets into the gaps around a poor repair and this then causes more holes.  Chronic underfunding is the cause of this problem, not EVs, however, it suits the current governments anti-green agenda to push this as it provides cover for their failings.

I have a feeling you may not buy into climate change, but if we are to continue to allow people to use fossil fuels, then there should be some levy to cover the costs of adaptation  - flood defences, drought measures etc.  Likewise, there needs to be something done to drive costs of green technologies down to make them accessible to all.  I don't know what they would be, as grants and subsidies only result in price increases by manufacturers and suppliers.  It is a tricky one.