There are many factors to consider when you buy a new car. Electric cars are more popular than ever, for many reasons, including their lower environmental impact. One thing you may not have considered when buying an electric vehicle is the cost for insurance on an electric car.
Auto insurance rates are affected by many different factors including your driving history, the neighborhood that you live in, the type of car you are insuring, and even your credit history. But, if all things are equal it is still more expensive to insure an electric vehicle. This article tells you why and what you might be able to do about it.
Why are electric cars more expensive to insure?
You can definitely save on gas and save money on oil changes with an electric car, but you will end up spending more on auto insurance. The reason for this is not because electric vehicles get in more accidents than gas cars. It is because electric engines are much more expense to fix or replace than traditional gas engines.
Electric engine technology is new to the automobile scene and these engines have expensive batteries in them. If you are in an accident and have to replace your electric engine battery, the insurance company will be paying much more for the damages than for a gas car battery replacement.
For this reason, insurance companies see an electric vehicle as a greater liability than a traditional gas vehicle. In fact, on average you will see about a 23% difference in price for your electric car insurance, compared to the gas version of the same model.
The good news
As electric engine technology matures and becomes more prevalent, the costs to replace and repair parts will also come down. This should lead to insurance costs for electric vehicles coming down also and eventually becoming the same as gas engine vehicles. Some say that by 2024 it will actually be cheaper to insure an electric vehicle over a gas vehicle.
But for now, the costs to insure your electric vehicle are still higher. The best option is to at least get the best rate possible. You can do this by making sure you keep a clean driving record without tickets or violations, have no accidents, and keep your credit in good order.
If you want to compare quotes and find the best insurance for an electric car, use the InsuranceWins form. It takes just two minutes with InsuranceWins to get your auto insurance quote online.