It’s going to take some time to accumulate actuarial data, but a showdown between EV makers and insurance companies seems to be on the horizon.
The main reason that EVs are being scrapped is due to the fact that there is no viable way to repair even slightly damaged batteries which are turning out to be a disaster for insurance companies whilst also increasing motor insurance for drivers across the board.
Even when it is possible to repair a battery, insurance companies are still wary of doing so as they fear litigation cases if the car happens to be involved in another accident.
Just like covid vaxxes, no matter how bad they are they just keep pushing EVs, no pun intended.
Spontaneous Combustion… huge problem!
Many different avenues that break the batteries as corrosion is a bigger problem with age and wear and tear.
Playing around with different copper thickness in manufacturing is also the cheapest and an additional problem of quality production.
Huge voltage differences that are constantly being testing the heat resistance of copper.
Burning down your house or neighborhood car lots is a distinct possibility and insurance companies are
What will happen to EV home owners or business owners insurance rates when they have attached garages, condominium owners or any building owners that have underground parking and have EV’s parked.
I don’t think I’d be buying a new condo right now!
If you want a parking space in a new condo that’s now an “add-on” and no longer include, same as storage lockers.
The worst buildings are those that don’t have at least 1 parking space per unit, from the misguided demands from governments to make buildings more “green”
I stopped reading at “…we can all agree EV’s are here to stay.”
Yup.
They’re like a zombie, keep coming back, and are hard to kill…
Just wait until insurance companies start getting the hazmat bills for major accidents.
98%+ of all electric buses in the world are in China.
China is not as retarded as the west, and uses a much safer battery tech called Lithium Titanate.
Fire-wise, it is much safer than standard Li-ion, but not as safe as ICE.
Their lifespan, in terms of charging cycles is around 20x better than standard Li-ion.
They work well down to -40 degrees.
They charge much faster than standard Li-ion.
Their voltage ranges make them much safer to charge with standard 12-14v charging systems in vehicles.
They are not as energy dense as Li-ion, making them less useful for smaller EVs.
Says who?
More info here
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-titanate_battery
I’m not making a recommendation for EVs.
Every single testing organization that has tested them.
And still JUNK
How you can be triggered by a simple battery technology escapes me.
Like any tech, there are valid use cases for it.
There are places where its easier to get electricity to than diesel fuel.
In fact, if AB actually started building lots of coal-fired electricity plants, e-busses may become more cost-efficient than diesel busses,
Oh, I forgot, the narrative here is that all public transit is junk.
The fact is, in North America, that’s true, because in North America, the city admins are totally incompetent, and the rest of the world laughs at us, and rightfully so.
Still junk.
So, you don’t use any L:i-ion battery tech?
The cars you dummy, wake up.
I knew where the linked article was going when I read that, but “know the enemy”. The insurance issue is going to come to a head; just as it did with propane. The article harps about EV owners paying “exorbitant” rates; the truth is the exact opposite. Insurance rates are set by the rate of claims and the payouts. EVs were initially treated as just another (expensive) car. Data (shall we call it “the science”?) now shows that they are a special class that is costing far more than it pays in. Ratings will adjust to cover this; if it is for all cars (i.e. insurers are forced to treat them as such by government) or for themselves as a discrete sector. The other alternative is “no rating” and therefore no insurance. Or perhaps the fools in Ottawa will make it a government thing, like medicare or employment insurance, where “the taxpayer” foots the bills that are not paid by the users.
The bigger issue is liability insurance: be it for owners, dealers or manufacturers. Shipping and storage (i.e. underground parking) come into play here too. If EVs are classed as hazardous cargo with insurance ratings to match (or too dangerous to ship or store in confined spaces) , this will be the death knell. There have already been a number of total hull and cargo losses attributed to EVs; and parkade fires with hundreds of vehicles affected.
Insurance policies are already being written for ships, commercial parkades, condos and apartment buildings that prohibit or restrict EVs. Private dwelling will be next. Even the most woke of municipalities is grappling with the demands from their fire services for equipment and training to be able handle EV explosions and fires; and if the tiny numbers of these grow, this will become another impossible leap to make. There are no free lunches.
Ultimate liability (i.e. disposal costs for hazardous waste) are yet another ticking time bomb.
I’ve had plastic fenders shatter at extremely cold temperatures as well.
And the components in these Electric Vehicle have some serious differences in electrical elements.
Meeting huge temperature variations.
Not to mention can get electrocuted even after years of storage.
Definitely not a product that I would buy or endorsement in any shape or form.
Even with a no rating, you can get insurance from the insurers of last resort, along with an eye watering bill to go with it…
“…right off…” This is a remarkably illiterate article.
Also.. I watched a program that most of the written off EVs end up in Ukraine.. They get patched up and put back on the road.. A kick back dumping ground for our mistakes?.. I thought it was odd and one of the main reasons the Ukraine won’t be joining the EU anytime soon..
The EU has too many regulation on, ..well everything.. From cheese to please its regulated..
What is the actual life span of EV batteries? Is there a supply chain for replacement EV batteries with reasonable delivery times? How will the used EV batteries be disposed of safely?
Seems that replacement batteries will be difficult to put in place given that the ‘when new’ batteries
are part of the frame!
Barring mechanical failures (Battery damage due to vibration, impact or puncture), or electrical failure (unbalanced cells getting over-voltage from a charging system and going on a thermal runaway):
Standard Li-ion: 1000 – 1500 charging cycles.
LiFePo: 2000-3000 charging cycles.
Lithium Titanate: 20 000 – 30 000 charging cycles.
Batteries are ready to use energy.. More or less compressed fire.. This has a great many benefits when dealing with smaller less demanding things than cars.. Do good ideas scale?.. Yes, I guess they do but they scale with the consequence of fire..
Two problems scaled up.. A technology scaled up into the danger zone and the problems related, scaled up into wide adoption.. Square peg, round hole.. Toys for the rich.. Cars for people who don’t have anywhere to go or a job to do..
Oh look at me I CAN COMMUTE TO WORK.. As if the bus couldn’t get the job done for 3 bucks.. I can get GROCERIES, as if Walmart doesn’t deliver for 4 bucks.. How is this any sort of bar to measure anything by?..
If you like EVs that’s great.. Just don’t force me to listen to your music.. I think it sucks..
Insurance companies have solutions to increased risk. They apply the appropriate rate commensurate to the risk. More risk = more premium. They will figure it out and the EV’s will attract higher premiums. OR the insurance industry will cave to political correctness and everybody’s premiums will rise to absorb the increased risk of the EV.
Although typically you’ll see insurance companies adjust for risk, you then have politicians putting their fingers on the scale, limiting the ways that insurance companies can price for risk. In ontario, this mostly shows up as the insurance company using postal codes as proxies for the things they aren’t allowed to control for any more, which means that even good and safe drivers with low risk profiles get screwed for living in the wrong place.
Right now, EV owners get rather large discounts on premiums, at least for the company I work for, and were not the only ones that do. So unfortunately it’s the latter being applied right now, but I also understand not as many parts to fix, build quality also go into the rate.
Think the pricing scheme will changed as soon as a multiplex condo or two goes up because someone’s batteries shorted out or there’s more constructive write offs because the replacement battery isn’t worth the actual cash value of the vehicle, insurance though moves about the same pace as our justice system so only time will to.
Gee! Would these be the same insurance companies that recently endorsed all the UN’s sustainable/envrio -crap?
“As Canada’s trade association for home, auto, and business insurers, IBC recognizes that climate change is a current and growing threat that will have an increasingly large cost on society,” said IBC president and CEO Don Forgeron.
https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/ca/news/environmental/ibc-signs-on-to-uns-environmental-initiative-for-insurers-95017.aspx
IBC is not an insurance company, it is a government bureaucracy. Never the twain shall meet.
Don’t know what we’d do without you, Peter.
https://www.ibc.ca/about/who-we-are
Timely and relevant news report:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itGeAq9rBeY
Hmmmmm…took me a few reads, but I think I know what this authour is all about.
I’ll leave it at that.