- Insurance coverage claims counsel EVs are in several types of lower-speed crashes
- EVs usually tend to be rear-ended, much less prone to have front-end harm
- Combustion automobiles and EVs are full-loss totaled at about the identical fee
EVs are extra usually concerned in several sorts of collisions than internal-combustion vehicles, knowledge from Mitchell Worldwide present, with one-pedal driving techniques doubtlessly contributing to this.
Mitchell, which supplies tech for the auto insurance coverage and collision restore industries, has beforehand reported that EV collision restore prices are greater than these for gasoline automobiles. Now the corporate is delving into the sorts of fender-benders EVs are usually concerned in versus internal-combustion vehicles.
In a press launch printed Wednesday, the corporate mentioned its knowledge exhibits that EVs usually tend to maintain rear-end harm than internal-combustion automobiles, with these collisions accounting for 35.9% of EV collisions and 27.5% of internal-combustion automobile collisions, respectively. Combustion vehicles have a better frequency of front-end collisions, at 31.5%, in comparison with 25.8% for EVs.
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Mitchell believes that is probably down to 2 major elements. One is that EVs are usually newer, that means they’re extra prone to have the most recent front-collision avoidance tech. The corporate additionally cited the “completely different braking dynamics” of EVs in one-pedal mode, which may trigger extra fast deceleration that drivers in following vehicles aren’t ready for.
Whereas collisions involving a front-end affect are 40% costlier on common than these involving a rear-end affect, EVs nonetheless stay costlier to restore general, in keeping with Mitchell. The corporate’s knowledge exhibits that in Q3, insurance coverage claims for repairable automobiles within the U.S. averaged $5,560 for EVs, $5,229 for plug-in hybrids, $4,426 for delicate hybrids, and $4,741 for non-hybrid combustion automobiles.
That continues a development from Q2, when Mitchell discovered that EV collision-repair prices had been 20% greater than these for different automobiles. Excessive restore prices had been additionally among the many causes cited by Hertz for slowing its EV plans.
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The newest report from Mitchell did present a touch about why this can be the case. Whereas about the identical share of components are repaired, BEV vs ICE, BEV repairs require 90% original-equipment producer (OEM) components, whereas ICE fashions require 64% OEM components. The remaining come from the aftermarket, probably at a decrease price than OEM components.
EVs and combustion automobiles are written off as a complete loss at about the identical fee—9.9% of all claims. The typical market worth of EVs declared a complete loss is $32,718, pretty near the $31,070 common for 2021-or-newer combustion automobiles, which Mitchell judged to be most much like EVs in complexity and value to restore.
Excessive EV restore prices are well-documented, however we’re now additionally seeing hints that the completely different driving dynamics of EVs might play a task within the frequency of collisions. Along with Mitchell’s citing of one-pedal driving as a consider rear-end collisions, a report printed final month discovered that EV drivers are extra prone to be at fault in crashes, and famous that drivers’ conduct modified when switching to an EV.
