For many EV owners, the most attractive thing about EVs is "saving money" rather than being environmentally friendly and having a short acceleration time. Since electricity is cheaper than oil, you don't have to change the oil regularly, but this is only suitable if everything goes well.
If you are not careful, advantages can become disadvantages. According to Wall Street**, EV owners find that new cars have a surprising drawback: they can be quite expensive to repair in the event of an accident. According to CCC Intelligent Solutions, the average cost of repairing an electric vehicle after a collision is $6,587, much higher than the average cost of repairing an overall vehicle at $4,215.
This conflicts with the general impression of electric vehicles.
According to Consumer Reports, a nonprofit consumer organization, because electric vehicles do not require regular maintenance, maintenance costs can save a lot of money, about half of that of gasoline vehicles. But few people mention that owners will have to pay more to replace their electric cars with new doors or bumpers after a crash.
According to a report by CCC Intelligent Solutions, twice as many parts are used to repair electric vehicles as gasoline vehicles, and many electric vehicles use welding or screwing, making it impossible for garages to partially repair them, but to replace them in whole sets. In addition, electric vehicles are more likely to be fitted with a variety of sensors, lenses, and other electronic devices, which can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, as well as the cost of recalibrating sensors.
Scott Ben**idez, a collision repair service business in New Mexico, told Wall Street that lithium batteries for electric vehicles require special storage and repair environments, and because of the risks, preventive measures will increase repair time and costs.
Electric vehicles also often use special materials other than traditional steel, requiring the purchase of special tools and storage space, and stores often have to charge higher service fees. This also means that there are not many companies that can repair electric vehicles, and waiting becomes a must. According to CCC Intelligent Solutions, the average maintenance time for an electric vehicle is about 57 days, which is a full 12 days longer than a gasoline vehicle.
Rental car company Hertz Global, which has a large fleet of mostly Teslas, but one of the reasons for the pressure on third-quarter earnings was the high cost of repairing electric vehicles.
This is also reflected in insurance premiums, which are shown to pay an average of $357 per month for EV driving and $248 for gasoline vehicle driving, according to insurance comparison**inusurify.
But InsideEVS argues that just because maintenance costs are high doesn't mean electric vehicles don't have advantages. The good news for EV owners is that automakers are confident that EV maintenance improvements will be made in the future. Ford Motor Co., Ltd. said that with complete technician training and the popularization of electric vehicle parts, the cost of electric vehicle repair will decrease, because the larger the scale of any new technology, the lower the cost and the shorter the customer wait time.
Tesla has a collision repair center, as well as other private car repair networks, and Xander Walker, a former Tesla employee, said that in the past decade, Tesla owners and maintenance volume have increased, and Tesla's repair costs have been cut in half.
Automakers believe that the cost of repairing electric vehicles will one day drop to the same level as gasoline vehicles, but they will have to wait. But for those considering switching to electric vehicles, it may be important to recall whether they have a good driving record in the last five years.
Header image**: Tesla).