- Insurance data shows EVs are as expensive as newer ICE vehicles to repair.
- The average claim to repair an EV in the United States was $6,236 last year, down 3% compared to 2023.
One of the biggest arguments for steering clear of electric vehicles and going for a pure combustion or plug-in hybrid car boils down to the cost of repairs–in popular culture, at least. You know it, I know it: the huge battery pack nestled in the floor of an EV is the most expensive part of the car, and if it were to break, the repair bill would be over $15,000.
But statistical data is here to calm down the nerves of current and wannabe EV owners. According to Mitchell, a company that delivers smart technology solutions and services to the auto insurance and collision repair industries, the average cost of repairing an EV last year in the United States was on par with a newer model combustion car.
“While automobiles powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE) had the lowest average severity among all propulsion types, newer model ICE vehicles were closely aligned with BEVs and PHEVs when it came to severity costs,” the company said in its 2024 EV Collisions Insight Report.
Tesla Model S and Model X EVs at a Tesla Service Center
Furthermore, costs are coming down–albeit slightly. Last year, the average claims severity for repairable EVs was $6,236 in the United States, a year-over-year decrease of 3%. For plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), the average insurance claim was $5,583, while combustion cars had an average insurance repair bill of $5,066. Mitchell did not say what model years are included in these statistics, but said that the average severity of newer ICE vehicles was $6,127 last year in the U.S. That’s just $109 less than the average EV.
When it comes to total loss frequency–that’s the number of vehicles totaled by insurers out of all the cars that needed repairs–all powertrain types went up. For EVs, the percentage went up from 8% in 2023 to 10.2%, a figure influenced by the record sales numbers posted last year in the U.S. Meanwhile, the claims frequency for collision-damaged, repairable EVs went up to 2.71%–a year-over-year increase of 38%.
The EV that was the subject of most insurance claims was the Tesla Model Y with a frequency of 31.43%, followed by the Tesla Model 3 with 29.86%. The Model Y saw a 7.58% uptick in claims, while its sedan-shaped brother had 4.67% fewer claims last year compared to 2023.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E was in third place with 6.37% of insurance claims out of the total of EVs, followed by the Tesla Model S with 5.53% and Tesla Model X with 4.58%.
