Insuring an EV: what matters in the policy

The drivetrain does not change the basic structure. Liability covers damage you cause to others, partial cover events such as theft, fire, glass breakage, storms and animal bites, and comprehensive cover adds accidents you cause yourself and vandalism. How these building blocks are chosen and how the premium comes about applies to electric cars just as to any other.

What differs is where the value sits. In an electric car, a large part of the car's value is in a single component, the high-voltage battery, and it sits where a car gets hit when it grounds or crashes: in the underbody. Then there are parts a combustion car does not have — charging cable, charging port, high-voltage wiring, for many owners a wallbox — and types of damage that play no role there, such as a fault caused by a power surge while charging.

That is why, with an electric car, the clauses beyond the basic cover deserve particular attention. Two offers with a similar premium can pay out very different amounts after a claim. When comparing, lay the terms side by side, not just the prices.

Motor own-damage insurance covers damage from a sudden event: an accident, a fire, a flood. The same applies to the battery — if it is damaged in an accident, that is a claim like any other. What is not insured is what happens to every battery over time: the loss of capacity. Ageing is wear, and wear is not a matter for insurance but, at best, for the manufacturer's battery warranty.

In between lies a grey zone, and that is where policies differ. What about a fault from a short circuit, a surge while charging, a deep discharge after a long period standing, or an operating error? In a standard policy such damage is often excluded as operational damage or misuse. Some insurers offer extended battery cover for electric cars that includes exactly these cases. Whether it does is in the terms, not in the name of the add-on.

A second point concerns the underbody. After grounding or an impact from below, some manufacturers require the battery to be inspected and, if damaged, replaced in whole or in part rather than repaired. A small incident thus becomes a large bill. Whether the insurer then pays for the replacement is a question for before the damage, not after.

With a used car there is one more question: will a battery that has already lost capacity be replaced without deduction after a claim, or with a “new for old” deduction? Some terms provide for such a deduction based on age or condition; others explicitly waive it.

The portable charging cable is an expensive accessory, and it is often stolen or damaged where nobody is standing next to it: at a public charger, in the garage, from the boot. Whether the policy covers it as a vehicle accessory, only while it is in the car or also while plugged in, and whether theft at a public charging station is covered, is set out in the terms. Ask about all three situations.

The wallbox is a different matter. Fixed to the wall, it tends to belong to buildings or contents insurance rather than car insurance, depending on the country and the contract. Some car policies include it anyway, for instance against theft, vandalism or power surges. That is no reason to insure it twice, but it is a reason to establish once which contract covers which damage.

Martens are no side issue with an electric car. They chew hoses and cable insulation, and repairing high-voltage wiring is more involved because only suitably trained staff may work on it. Partial cover includes marten bites in many policies, but often only the direct damage to the bitten part. Consequential damage to other components is frequently covered only with an extension, and there it is capped — with an electric car, that cap is the figure to look at.

When buying a used electric car, the cable question belongs in the pre-purchase check too: which cables come with the car, and in what condition. On Carvexia, the seller's disclosure for electric cars asks whether a charging cable is included — a seller's statement, not checked, but a reason to count them at handover.

In the event of a write-off, own-damage cover basically pays the replacement or current value: what a comparable car costs at the time of the loss. With an electric car that value is harder to pin down than with a combustion car, because list prices, model generations and battery variants change faster and the used market fluctuates more.

A write-off can also come sooner than you might think. It occurs when the repair costs more than the car is still worth, and because the battery is so expensive, an accident that damages it can turn an otherwise repairable car into an economic write-off. That is not a special case, just the usual calculation with a more expensive part in it.

Add-ons that pay more than the current value in the first years protect against that loss: new-price or purchase-price compensation, in Switzerland known as Zeitwertzusatz. With an electric car the small print matters. New price on what basis — the list price at purchase or today's price of a successor model, which may be cheaper? Purchase price with or without a government purchase grant, if there was one? And does the protection also apply to a car bought used?

If you lease or finance, also check the gap between what the insurer pays and what the contract still demands. With an electric car it can be larger if the market value falls faster than the contract assumed. GAP cover closes it; it is included in some leases, but usually not with a loan.

Not every towing service and not every workshop can take on a damaged electric car. Many models must not be towed with the driven wheels turning and need to go on a flatbed. After an accident with suspected battery damage, the car is sometimes first parked separately, and only suitably qualified staff may work on the high-voltage components.

For insurance this means the question is not just whether towing is covered, but to where. Some breakdown and assistance covers pay for transport to the nearest workshop — and with an electric car the nearest may not be one allowed to repair it. Terms that explicitly include transport to a suitable workshop or a brand dealer, even over a longer distance, are better.

Then there are two cost items hardly anyone thinks about: storage charges when a crashed car with battery damage has to stand on a separate site for some time, and running out of charge. Whether a policy or breakdown cover pays for transport to the nearest charger depends on the contract; a motoring club's breakdown service may be a better place for that than your car insurance.

You can put the following questions to any insurer before signing, and the answers belong in writing in the quote or the terms. Once you have them for two or three offers, you are comparing cover rather than premiums.

The answers cannot be read from the premium. An offer that is cheaper because it leaves out some of these points is not cheaper, just smaller. How the premium is built up and when a higher excess pays off are covered in separate articles; with an electric car, the question of what is covered at all comes before that calculation.