According to a study by allianz, repair costs for an electric car are significantly higher than for conventional cars – especially after accidents. Last but not least, the battery comes at a high cost.
The repair costs for an electric car are higher than for conventional cars – according to the results of a study by allianz.
Photo: peter sieben
Repair costs for an electric car are significantly higher than for conventional cars. That’s the result of a study by allianz insurance. Accordingly, repairing an electric car after an accident is much more expensive than for other passenger cars.
Specifically: the average damage cost for an electric car is 10% higher than for cars with internal combustion engines. With plug-in hybrids, the cost of damage increases by as much as 50%. Replacing the expensive batteries is particularly expensive when it comes to repairs. allianz published the figures from the survey on Wednesday as part of its annual car day in ismaning near Munich.
Repair costs 30% higher for electric cars after collisions
According to allianz, accidents with electric cars in particular result in much higher costs than with conventional cars. „We are about 30 percent higher on electric vehicles in collision damage repair", according to carsten reinkemeyer, head of safety research at the allianz center for technology. „If the battery in an electric car has to be replaced, this can mean a total loss in many cases. In addition, repairs can usually only be carried out in specialized workshops and are therefore more expensive", reinkemeyer continues.
Safety regulations and manufacturer’s specifications also play a role. „There are things that don’t happen with conventional vehicles", SAYS THE EXPERTS. This is how "work on the high-voltage vehicle" should look like only take place in qualified workshops. And some manufacturers make it compulsory to always replace the battery after an airbag has been deployed what increases repair costs.
Battery can burn up to 20.000 euro costs
Batteries for electric cars currently still cost a lot of money- „up to 20.000 euro", as frank sommerfeld, chairman of allianz insurance, said. underbody damage in electric cars usually also means damage to the expensive battery.
marten bites can also be particularly costly, because bitten high-voltage cables always have to be replaced, as reinkemeyer explains. A set of cables can cost up to 7.000 euro costs. According to the safety researcher, some car manufacturers have found an inexpensive way to prevent such expensive repair costs: protective covers for the cables. The consequence of the high repair costs is that both pure electric cars and plug-in hybrids are on average somewhat more expensive to insure than conventional cars.
Fires from high-voltage batteries difficult to extinguish
New approaches would also have to be found for safety aspects. For example, fires from high-voltage batteries can be very severe and difficult to extinguish. Firefighters often need more time to get such fires under control- there is simply a lack of empirical values.
Job search for engineers
However, drivers of electric cars need not worry that their vehicles are more prone to breakdowns or are more dangerous than cars with gasoline or diesel engines. The most common cause of breakdowns in electric cars is well known: the vehicle won’t start: "it’s hard to believe, but electric vehicles also need a normal starter battery like combustion vehicles", according to james wallner, chief executive officer of ADAC autoversicherung AG, which cooperates with allianz.
electric car: no higher fire probability
Basically, according to the allianz, e-cars don’t burst into flames any faster than conventionally powered cars: "at the moment, we don’t see a higher likelihood of fire than with gasoline-powered cars", according to safety researcher reinkemeyer.
According to the insurer, an annual average of around 15.000 cars- including only a double-digit number of electric vehicles. As a rule, a burning electric car can be extinguished before the battery bursts into flames. „These fires proceed as we know it from vehicle fires", said karsten Gowecke, vice chief of the berlin fire department.
Number of electric cars increases sharply
The insurer’s investigation was prompted by the rapidly rising number of electric cars on the road. In the first half of the year, according to figures from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority, a good 312.000 new registrations of pure electric cars and plug-in hybrids.