Want to insure an electric car? You’re in for a big shock

Mail on Sunday survey f inds that environmentally friendly option is 39% more expensive to cover

OWNERS of electric cars are being charged almost 40% more for insurance compared to drivers of petrol cars, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Last month, the Government was advised that it should phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030.

But a survey by this newspaper has found that quotes for electric cars from Aviva, Allianz and Axa were 39% more expensive than petrol cars on average.

One insurance company gave a quote that was 52% more expensive.

The insurance companies justified the higher prices by arguing that electric cars are more expensive to repair.

Damien O’Neill, spokesman for Allianz Insurance, said: ‘One of the drawbacks of electric cars currently is their cost and, in particular, the repair costs.

‘If you have an accident in an electric car, it could be a relatively small accident and could cause a lot of damage to the batteries which are very, very expensive to repair.

‘So the cost of repair is quite high and [the costs of] all of the parts needed are quite high because you still don’t have mass production of electric cars. Mass production brings the cost of the unit and the component parts down.’

He said Allianz does give reductions for electric cars and those reductions were factored in to the premiums.

Axa said it offers a 20% discount on the price of insurance for electric or hybrid vehicles, but a spokesman said it hadn’t been applied to the quote given to us when we phoned for quotes.

A spokesman said: ‘From reviewing the details provided below, it appears the quote for the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle does not include this discount. The quote based on the driver profile provided for the Nissan Leaf, including the 20% discount, should be €852.’

Aviva did not respond to requests for comment.

The MoS sought quotes for a range of electric cars for an identical driver profile, as well as quotes for their petrol, diesel and hybrid equivalents. The driver was 35, living and working in Dublin, with a full licence, full no-claims bonus and with zero penalty points for the past 10 years.

The average premium quoted for a Nissan Leaf Visia electric car was €888; the average quoted for a Nissan Pulsar 1.2 litre petrol engine was €640. Bizarrely, quotes for hybrid cars were similar to their petrol equivalent. The average price quoted for a Toyota Yaris Hybrid Aura was €635.

There is no comparable sized diesel car on the market, but the average quote for the Nissan Pulsar 1.5 litre diesel was €825, making it cheaper than the average quote for the electric car.

The Government said it is committed to encouraging motorists to switch to electric cars by providing a €5,000 grant, through the Sustainable Energy Association of Ireland, towards the purchase of a car, VRT relief of up to €5,000 and a tax

‘The cost of repair is quite high’ ‘20,000 electric cars on the road by 2020’

incentive for companies purchasing energy-efficient equipment such as electric vehicles.

But any savings that motorists hope to make by switching to an electric car could be cancelled out or even exceeded by the cost of insurance.

A spokesman for the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment said insurance costs were not within the remit of energy policy and therefore it would not be appropriate to comment: ‘In terms of the costs of running an electric vehicle, there is a special low rate of motor tax payable of €120 per annum and motor tax on hybrid vehicles is typically €170. The energy costs of EVs is also substantially lower than conventional petrol and diesel models and currently recharging at public charge points provided by the ESB is free.

‘Furthermore, maintenance of BEVs [battery electric vehicles] in particular is less expensive than conventional vehicles as they require less servicing at less frequent intervals,’ he said.

The spokesman added that by 2020 there will be 20,000 electric vehicles on the road and that all new cars and vans sold in Ireland from 2030 will be zero emission.

In June, Environment Minister Denis Naughten told the Dáil that there were an estimated 2,970 electric cars in the national fleet.

Since 2015, Mr Naughten said, there has been a ‘steady growth’ in the number of electric vehicles in Ireland with 529 registrations in 2017 – a 25% increase in the year. He also said 40% of all the electric vehicles purchased in Ireland were purchased in 2017. In 2011, there were only two types of EVs available in Ireland while today there are 25 unique models for Irish consumers to choose from, he added. news@mailonsunday.ie