EV Discussion thread

JKenH

As I had recently done a search on a comparison site for my Golf renewal, I just changed the car in the saved details to a 2020 Tesla M3LR that was for sale at the same car supermarket I bought my Golf. All other details remained the same. Here are the results

These were the results for my Golf but I ended up renewing with LV= who don’t appear on the results. 

For completeness here is the LV= renewal quote for the Golf



Edit: I know they are different cars but I am genuinely surprised that, now, the Tesla (advertised at £25k) should be four times what my Golf (WBAC value £13,500)  is to insure. 

JKenH

Yesterday the Guardian, today, the Telegraph. I was surprised when I did my mystery shopper search for Tesla insurance how few of the well known insurers featured in the search. Swindon and AA were there (both brokers who can shop around for underwriters) but the likes of  Hastings, Admiral, Tesco, Aviva, Saga and Churchill were not there although they did all quote for my Golf. (LV= were missing for both cars). I know Direct Line a popular Tesla insurer doesn’t appear on any comparison websites. I’ve just checked back and the searches returned 29 quotes for the Tesla and 129 for the Golf. 

John Lewis stops insuring electric cars over repair cost fears

The department store’s lending business John Lewis Financial Services has put a temporary pause on customers taking out cover or renewing existing policies on battery-power vehicles while its underwriter, Covéa, analyses risks and costs.

Insurers are facing rising costs for vehicle repairs, which are eating into profits. According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), vehicle repair costs rose 33pc over the first quarter of 2023 compared to 2022, helping to push annual premiums to record highs. 

Electric cars can be particularly expensive to repair, costing around a quarter more to fix on average, compared to a petrol or diesel vehicle, according to Thatcham Research, the motor industry’s research centre.

Particular worries surround the batteries, which are commonly mounted on the floor of the vehicle. This placement can make it more likely that it will be damaged even in a minor accident such as mounting a kerb.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/bills/insurance/john-lewis-stops-insuring-electric-cars/

Netexporter

I insure my MG5 with Flow, which is part of LV.

noitsnotme

JKenH said:

Yesterday the Guardian, today, the Telegraph. I was surprised when I did my mystery shopper search for Tesla insurance how few of the well known insurers featured in the search. Swindon and AA were there (both brokers who can shop around for underwriters) but the likes of  Hastings, Admiral, Tesco, Aviva, Saga and Churchill were not there although they did all quote for my Golf. (LV= were missing for both cars). I know Direct Line a popular Tesla insurer doesn’t appear on any comparison websites. I’ve just checked back and the searches returned 29 quotes for the Tesla and 129 for the Golf. 

John Lewis stops insuring electric cars over repair cost fears

The department store’s lending business John Lewis Financial Services has put a temporary pause on customers taking out cover or renewing existing policies on battery-power vehicles while its underwriter, Covéa, analyses risks and costs.

Insurers are facing rising costs for vehicle repairs, which are eating into profits. According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), vehicle repair costs rose 33pc over the first quarter of 2023 compared to 2022, helping to push annual premiums to record highs. 

Electric cars can be particularly expensive to repair, costing around a quarter more to fix on average, compared to a petrol or diesel vehicle, according to Thatcham Research, the motor industry’s research centre.

Particular worries surround the batteries, which are commonly mounted on the floor of the vehicle. This placement can make it more likely that it will be damaged even in a minor accident such as mounting a kerb.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/bills/insurance/john-lewis-stops-insuring-electric-cars/

I insured our Model Y RWD with Admiral a couple of months ago.  They came up on the options presented by confused dot com.

It’s a leased car through my Ltd company which makes insurance more expensive and Direct Line, who I believe are Teslas ‘preferred’ insurer, wouldn’t quote for that reason.

I went with Admiral Multi Cover in the end which includes the MY, my sons car insurance and the house insurance.  That saved quite a lot on my teenage sons premium and a small amount on the house insurance.  The MY insurance came down to a respectable £560 for 12 months.  However I don’t have the ‘drive other cars’ inclusion and nobody else with ‘drive other cars’ is covered to drive it although I believe that’s due to it being a lease car.

silverwhistle

Netexporter said:

My MG5 is about £350 fully comp.

My MG4 was just under £400 including legal cover. Last year when I got it at short notice after it's recent arrival in the UK I could only find Admiral to insure it, and I paid 570ish. This year they wanted more than 800 so I said bye and went elsewhere. I suspect the MG4 as a recent arrival, RWD, more appealing to younger drivers and a totally new design might make it a bigger risk than the older models. Certainly the cost for my previous ZS EV was a lot cheaper.

I'm hoping experience of the market, more volumes and better spares supply will ameliorate costs next year. The new souped up model will no doubt be very expesnive though!

CKhalvashi

JKenH said:

Even the Guardian are EV bashing now. Confused.com found on average it costs 13% more to insure a EV. Which is a rise of 72% compared to 29% for petrol and diesel - so last year EVs were cheaper to insure - £557 vs £656. When I had a Leaf my insurance was similar to my Golf - around £200. I did an exercise a year or so ago and found that insuring a Tesla Model 3 and a BMW M3 would cost similar amounts - somewhere in the £500 region IIRC.

What are other EV owners finding?

For comparison I have just renewed the insurance for my petrol Golf at £235.

‘The quotes were £5,000 or more’: electric vehicle owners face soaring insurance costs

In the Facebook group, members share stories of horror renewal quotes, with increases ranging from 60% (up to £1,100) to a staggering 940% (a jump from £447 to £4,661, according to a screengrab shared by one driver).

Its figures, derived from quotes, show that insurance premiums for electric vehicles are 72% – or £402 – higher than this time last year, at a typical £959. Meanwhile, for petrol and diesel car drivers, the increase is 29%, or £192, taking the figure to £848.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/sep/30/the-quotes-were-5000-or-more-electric-vehicle-owners-face-soaring-insurance-costs

Mine has increased by about 4% compared to last year. This is for 40k miles, 30k of which are covered for business.

The Enyaq (80 estate) was about 15% higher than the Yeti, which made its final 1500mi journey with us last week.

thevilla

We're in the process of buying a 21 Seat Mii electric.  Lloyds Bank were the best deal in April for our 21 Leaf at £400.  Their quote for the Mii?  Over a grand!  Cheaper car, same age and half the annual mileage.

Fortunately other quote have come in around £400 but that still seems OTT.

Netexporter

We're in the process of buying a 21 Seat Mii electric.

Had to give my head a wobble at the thought of a 21-seat Mii.

Would that be a Miiniibus?

Martyn1981

thevilla said:

We're in the process of buying a 21 Seat Mii electric.  Lloyds Bank were the best deal in April for our 21 Leaf at £400.  Their quote for the Mii?  Over a grand!  Cheaper car, same age and half the annual mileage.

Fortunately other quote have come in around £400 but that still seems OTT.

Ah, now I understand, very slow on the uptake today. GIYF. 

thevilla

Netexporter said:

We're in the process of buying a 21 Seat Mii electric.

Had to give my head a wobble at the thought of a 21-seat Mii.

Would that be a Miiniibus?

But the 21 Leaf is a very small houseplant indeed ☺