‘Electric car barely more expensive to repair than car with combustion engine’ | Car

The American magazine Road & Track is based on figures from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), an independent non-profit research organization. This shows that electric or electrified cars are hardly more expensive to repair than cars with a combustion engine. In the US it would be a difference of only two percent.

According to the HLDI, the increased repair costs are a global phenomenon that have nothing to do with electric cars. The cost of repairing damage has risen by 30 percent in three years. This would be due to the greater complexity of cars, including cars with a combustion engine. More sensors and electronics inevitably mean higher costs.

Electric cars would also not be declared a total loss more quickly after a collision. According to data from the HLDI, ‘only’ 6.1 percent of electric cars were scrapped after a collision, compared to 18.4 percent of combustion engine models involved in a similar accident.

These figures contradict recent studies by insurers and, among others, the Reuters news agency, which stated that electric cars are declared a total loss relatively quickly when it is suspected that damage has occurred to the battery. Since this is the most expensive part of the car, they would be more likely to end up in the scrap heap.

The HLDI does emphasize that digital systems in modern cars are so advanced that they are more likely to be damaged in a collision. The increasing weight of modern cars would not help. However, according to the HLDI, this weight increase is not only visible in electric cars, but also in the ever-growing SUVs.