You’ll see more and more Electrical Vehicles (EV) on the road, especially with their environmentally friendly approach (when compared to traditional vehicles) resulting in low running costs. The International Energy Agency Global EV Outlook of 2021 saw a 43% increase in electric car sales in 2020 and that trend is only due to increase as the UK bans new sales of petrol and diesel cars from 2030.
EV owners have to worry about the vehicle range, charging speed and the increased upfront costs of ownership including vehicle insurance. But what is different with EV insurance and regular vehicle insurance? We’ll discuss the risk changes below.
In addition to the current vehicle insurance risk rating such as vehicle insurance group, vehicle performance, driver risk profile, driver claims and points – EV’s are a new product with new technology. This results in new insurance risks, whether it’s a battery over charging and over heating or the increased chance of a battery combusting in the event of a road traffic accident. If the EV’s battery needs repairing then the whole battery will need to be taken apart to locate the fault which incurs high labour charges.
The EV’s have a lot of integrated components including sensors which can be expensive to replace and source. These are all connected via the EV’s software, which in the event of a fault may not let your vehicle function as designed. This software is designed to transmit your vehicles data over the internet, this is to improve the drivers experience and safety. As you can imagine, this poses a cyber security threat, if a hacker was to maliciously attack your vehicle’s software or even hold your vehicle for ransom it can be costly to repair. Having the correct coverage to protect against this will become increasing important as the EV network grows.
Due to these risks having an insurance broker will be vital in advising customers with the correct levels and types of coverage. This will help mitigate any increase in financial losses that can occur with the higher costs involved with acquiring and repairing EV’s.
The future shows that Electric Vehicle sales are on the rise, especially with the increasing benefits, government grants and regulation changes. This can only signal the change in vehicle insurance and the complexities it will overcome to protect customers. Having an insurance broker will allow customers to be matched with the correct policy for them and their EV to secure a competitive premium.
Whether you have one or more vehicles, we'll create a bespoke insurance policy for you and your electric vehicle. Get in touch with us on 0208 909 2899 or at info@foruminsurance.com