Just why ARE EVs so expensive to repair? Electric car owners forced to pay 50% MORE after a crash due to limited number of mechanics and risk of batteries exploding
Electric vehicle owners face repair costs thousands of dollars higher than gasoline cars.
This is due to a lack of specially trained technicians, extra safety measures for potentially explosive batteries and an increased need for replacement parts.
Repairing an electric car after an accident cost an average of $6,587 last year – 56 percent higher than the $4,215 for all vehicles, according to research from car data company CCC Intelligent Solutions.
Electric cars are promoted as requiring less maintenance than their gas counterparts – eliminating the need for tasks such as regular oil changes.
But when it comes to damage repair, they require more work than regular vehicles, according to CCC Intelligent Solutions.
The report shows that an electric car repair last year required on average about double the number of replacement parts compared to a standard petrol car.
According to research from automotive data company CCC Intelligent Solutions, repairing an electric car after an accident will cost an average of $6,587 in 2022, compared to $4,215 for all vehicles
“People are used to hearing that EVs have fewer parts than an internal combustion engine car, but that's not the case when it comes to collision repair,” said Marc Fredman, Chief Strategy Officer at CCC Intelligent Solutions. The Wall Street Journal.
He said the way many EV parts are welded into the vehicles means the components cannot be repaired and must instead be replaced.
Cars with lithium-ion batteries also require special storage because they can be a fire hazard if damaged, adding both time and cost to the repair process, Scott Benavidez, president of the trade group Automotive Service Association, told me.
Repair costs are also higher because electric vehicle bodies are often made of more expensive aluminum than steel.
There are also a limited number of repair shops that can take on this work, which means they can charge a premium for the service.
However, the CCC Intelligent Solutions report notes that electric vehicles are on average more than four years newer than the average car. They also often cost more than $30,000 more, which also drives up repair costs.
It turned out that the need for specialist care also means that customers face longer waiting times for repairs.
According to the report, it takes 25 percent longer to get an electric car into a body shop compared to a gasoline car. And once technicians start working, it typically takes 57 days to fix the problem, compared to 45 days for non-EVs.
There are signs that costs may fall as more independent shops are trained in EV repairs and automakers build up inventories of spare parts.
But in the meantime, higher repair costs are also driving up insurance premiums for EV owners.
Brent Shreve and his wife Molly told DailyMail.com earlier this year how the insurance on their Tesla Model Y was double that of their Volkswagen Atlas.
Insurer State Farm quoted the couple – in their mid-30s – $78 for the gas car and $140 for the electric car – despite the models being virtually identical in size and costing almost the same amount.
Brent Shreve and his wife Molly (pictured) live in Fishers, Indiana
Insurer State Farm quoted the couple – in their mid-30s – $78 for the gas car (left) and $140 for the electric car (right).
It comes after a separate survey found that EV owners report far more problems with their cars and trucks than owners of gas-powered vehicles.
a Consumer Reports A study among more than 330,000 car owners showed that electric cars experienced 79 percent more problems than cars with a combustion engine.
The research shows that EV owners most often report problems with battery and charging systems, as well as defects in body panels and the fit of interior parts.
However, the report noted that EV manufacturers are still learning how to build new types of vehicles, and that some issues would be teething problems that would be resolved over time.