Electric car or normal car: which accident will cost more?

The changes in the pure electric vehicle market begin with several key aspects. The first is the ever-growing and improving technology of electric cars.

Today there are already electric cars on the roads, which can be driven comfortably not only for short distances, but also for long distances, even more than 300 km on a single charge.

More and more kilometers are facilitated by the improvement of electric car batteries. As their cost falls, electric cars will increasingly compete with conventional cars.

Weak and strong points of the electric car

Today, the price of car and electric car insurance is determined by two factors: how often the car and its driver get into road accidents and how much the repair work will cost if this happens.

Statistically, electric cars are involved in road accidents with the same frequency as normal cars, but this often happens in such a way that repairing an electric car is more expensive.

Especially when the electric car market is still young and not all manufacturers of electric models have competent representatives in Lithuania for their service and repair.

According to Mindaugas Balinskas, head of the claims department at Compensa Vienna Insurance Group, the price for repairing an electric car depends on the model, configuration, crashworthiness and where the vehicle is damaged.

If, for example, an electric car hits an obstacle on the road, not only the bottom can be damaged (as is normally the case with a car), but also the battery itself – then the repair costs would increase significantly.

The same consequences, more painful than usual, would be expected by drivers of electric cars in the event of a strong impact on the wheel, when not only the chassis elements, but also the motor that turns the wheel can be damaged.

On the other hand, the opposite cases are also possible, when in the event of a frontal impact – directly on the front of the car – the internal combustion engine of the electric car is not damaged, the repair of which would be extremely expensive, because it is simply not there.

“In any case, caution and safety are the most important things when driving an electric or conventional fuel car to avoid accidents and avoid additional costs for both repairs and insurance.

I would advise drivers to choose not only the permitted speed, but also the safest one, especially in cold weather. It is also important to monitor road conditions more carefully: both puddles and bare ice can cause significant losses,” says M. Balinskas.

Insurers keep an eye on the latest technologies

Although electric cars and their technologies are not great when insured by compulsory drivers’ liability insurance or CASKO insurance, experts see both risks and opportunities for the future.

It is observed, for example, that the development of driver assistance technology is directly related to fewer accidents on the roads.

Therefore, in the future, normal and electric car technologies will not surpass insurance companies and the products they offer.

“Electric cars in the insurance market are linked to another rapidly developing innovation: continuously improving driving assistants, which, although so far only partially, can already take over the driver’s functions.

It is hoped that in the future the human driver may no longer even be necessary. It is the development of these technologies that can change the safety situation on the roads and at the same time the insurance products offered,” says M. Balinskas.

Sometimes, seemingly unrelated technologies and innovations can significantly influence and change the market situation.

In this case, new safety solutions implemented in electric cars and conventional fuel cars can help save the lives of the driver and passenger and reduce road accidents.