Insuring an electric car: How to find the right e-car insurance

 

There are no big differences between insurance for combustion engines and one for electric cars, but a few things have to be considered, and for this reason, some insurances are more suitable than others. We answer the most common questions about electric car insurance and tell you how best to insure your electric car and what it costs.

If you want to insure your car, as with any other vehicle, you are spoilt for choice - not only in terms of insurers, but also in terms of performance and costs. So far, only very few insurance companies offer special e-car insurance, which is why electric cars are not or only slightly cheaper to insure than a classic combustion engine

 

Is there a special electric car insurance?

To anticipate this first: An electric car needs the same car insurance cover as a combustion model. This means that you must take out at least a liability insurance policy that covers damage caused by the opposing party to the accident. Comprehensive insurance that covers damage to your own vehicle is also advisable, but not mandatory. Depending on your choice, the electric car insurance costs will of course be more expensive, so you should first think about which services are actually needed before investing the money.

Since there have been more and more electric cars on German roads in recent years, some insurers have special insurance policies for electric cars on offer – not every one of them really offers added value.

 

What insurance makes sense for an e-car?

Since an electric car is quite expensive to purchase and repairs can also be very expensive, it is advisable to take out fully comprehensive insurance in addition to the legally required liability insurance. Here you are on the safe side and will also be reimbursed for damage to your own car that was caused by vandalism, weather and storm damage or theft, for example. However, partial comprehensive insurance may also be sufficient, as some services are already included here.

 

What should be included in the insurance of an electric car?

The biggest difference between an electric car and a combustion engine is definitely the battery. It is the most expensive component in the electric car and should therefore definitely be integrated into the e-car insurance. But there are differences here too, for example, battery fires caused by a short circuit are often part of the car insurance package, but damage to the battery due to operating errors by the driver is not always. The age of the battery also sometimes plays a role, the battery may not be paid for in full if it has exceeded a certain age. In any case, compare different insurance policies for the e-car and ask carefully.

If your vehicle has to be towed, this is not as easy with an electric car as with a combustion engine, which is why these costs should also be included in the electric car insurance, as well as fire damage to the car caused by a possible battery fire.

 

How much does an electric car cost in insurance?

It is not possible to make a general statement about how much e-car insurance costs, because many factors play a role. These include the following:

• Type Class & Regional Class
• No-claims class
• Age of drivers
• annual mileage
• Vehicle age
• Deductible (SB)
• Occupation
• Driver group
• Value of the car

For more information on the individual criteria, on the amount of car insurance, we have our own guide.
You can find a comparison of which car insurance is the cheapest here.

Calculation example insurance premium

Just to give you a feel for a price, we have selected HUK Coburg as an insurer as an example. Once we calculate the electric car insurance costs for the Renault Zoe and the Tesla Model S with liability and fully comprehensive insurance. For comparison, this is still for two similar combustion engine models. We considered the following criteria for this example:

• Munich Region
• New cars (cash)
• Old vehicle owner: 35
• Mainly private use
• 10,000 kilometers per year
• Parking location: underground or collective garage
• Drivers: (spouse) partner, children (at least 25 years old)
• Insurance as a second car (without creditable no-claims class)
• annual payment of insurance
• with excess (SB)

As you can see, in this example, all insurance packages for the e-cars are more expensive. In the case of the VW Polo and the Renault Zoe, we are talking about a difference of about 200 €, the Tesla Model S and the Audi A6 are much further apart.

If you can count no-claims classes, have your own garage or only drive the car alone, you will get off much cheaper. The Munich region may also be more expensive than another regional class.

Since the value of the vehicle plays a decisive role in the calculation of the insurance premium, a lower purchase price is beneficial in terms of insurance costs. E-cars under 40,000 euros tend to attract cheaper insurance.

Electric car insurance in comparison

Here we have compiled an overview of the benefits of two insurance companies:

E-car insurance from DEVK

E-Auto Versicherung des ADAC

E-Car Insurance FAQs

If you still have questions, you can find the answers to e-car insurance here.

Are there more claims for e-cars than for combustion engines?

Statistically, there are no more cases of damage with electric cars than with combustion engines. The differences are not great.

What is the difference between electric car and combustion engine insurance?

The biggest difference is probably that e-car insurance is in most cases much cheaper than insurance for combustion engines. Otherwise, there is the difference that with electric car insurance, the battery is also insured.