Electric Cars: A Whole Different Kind of Damage

The physical reality is undeniable: the weight distribution in an electric vehicle changes the dynamics of a collision. With a heavy battery pack located in the entire lower part of the vehicle, the vulnerable areas differ from those in a combustion engine car.

In a side-impact or off-center frontal collision, even minor floor deformation can suffice to harm a battery module, aluminum casing, cooling system, or high-voltage wiring harness. Such damage is not visible and must be identified through specific inspection procedures that are time-consuming and demand highly specialized certified skills.

The real question is: how much more does it cost to repair an electric car? European insurers are unanimous: in similar accidents, repairing an electric vehicle is generally more expensive than repairing a combustion-engine model. Although there is no specific research in Belgium, the Belgian Federation of Insurers, Assuralia, refers to analyses by the SRA, which collaborates with France Assureurs. They have examined hundreds of thousands of post-accident evaluations and found that electric vehicles cost 14.3% more to repair than their combustion engine counterparts, while hybrids are 15.7% more expensive. A study by Solera, based on over 92,000 quotes comparing equivalent combustion engine and electric models, estimates additional costs at about 29%, with parts for electric cars costing up to 48% more. Furthermore, some academic studies suggest a more moderate increase of around 6.7%, based on specific samples and parameters. These figures allow garages to set a realistic margin of between 10 and 30%, depending on the type of damage, the make, and the severity of the collision.