How Much It Costs To Repair Your EV — Why You Could Be Looking at a $20,000 Bill
The first dent on a new car takes a lot of work. It’s even more challenging when that new car is an EV, and the damage is far more than a dent. But that’s not all. When you discover that repairing an EV after an accident costs far more than the average for conventional vehicles, you’re likely to be left wondering why it costs so much to fix an EV if you’re in an accident.
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The Downside of Your EV
Chances are, you bought your EV with all good intentions: you’d save the environment, pay less in maintenance, and require virtually no gas. All good things. On the other hand, “Last year, repairing an EV after a crash cost an average of $6,587 compared with $4,215 for all vehicles, according to CCC Intelligent Solutions.”
What if the damage is more extensive? In that same story, The Wall Street Journal reported that a dent the size of a bowling ball under a rear tail light on a Rivian pickup cost over $20,000 and took over two months to fix. How is that possible?
Five Reasons Costs Are So High
The costs are so high because more replacement parts are required. And these parts are costly. CCC Intelligent Solutions also reported that EV repairs last year needed about twice the number of replacement parts of a conventional vehicle, on average.
Another reason is that the repairs are more complicated for EVs, and these complications require more time and effort. Marc Fredman, chief strategy officer for CCC Intelligent Solutions, told The Wall Street Journal that “the bodies can be more complicated to disassemble, and the repairs tend to require more steps and precautions.”
Precautions must be taken due to the risk of fire when the lithium-ion batteries are damaged, said Scott Benavidez, chairman of the trade group Automotive Service Association.
These precautions include special storage that adds to the time and cost of the repairs.
On top of these considerations is that only some people repair EVs, which results in higher prices and longer waits.
EV technology is still new, and executives ranging from Hertz to Ford expect costs to come down, replacement parts to become more available, and more people to become qualified to make repairs. All of which should bring repair costs down over time.
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