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Then why are the insurance companies charging such high rates for EV's? Their number one reason is because they cost so much to maintain and replace if they get into a car crash. They won't be making this stuff up without statistics to back them up.
But mind you, I am looking at the Tesla model 3, which do tend to be more of a luxury vehicle compared to the Bolt.
The article says the reason is they cost a lot to repair after a crash, not that they cost a lot to maintain. (1) Insurance companies don't even pay for vehicle maintenance and (2) It's a well known fact that EVs cost less to maintain than equivalent ICE vehicles.
They charged me less on my new Chevy Bolt vs my 2021 LT1 Camaro. Odd but my Vettes were cheaper than a 2015 gt Stang i had to insure.
Had my Chevy bolt since last weekend and love it so far. Not even used any battery power with my 8 mile round trip to work 5 days a week. I only drive 50 per week so a EV works fine with me and really will shock ya on the get up and go from 0 to 30mph it just flat takes off.
All my driving was in speed zones of 30 to 45mph and never really got use the power of my Camaro as it was up to 80mph in WOT burst in a flash and it was a gas hog. Now i can pass all gas stations and LOL. One less stop to deal with getting gas.
But I don't care for the Bolt since I tend to not care for the Chevy/GMC brand. It's Dodge, Ford or just by luck, Kia that is for me. I am getting interested in the Tesla because I liked the look and I think it's neat how it can self drive, but I'm not paying no $585 a month to insure it. Nothing worse than throwing away good money on some BS I will most likely never use, and insurance is one of them. I'm in the middle of selling all my properties in FL right now and plan to relocate to NC, so maybe it will be more reasonable to insure there.
The article says the reason is they cost a lot to repair after a crash, not that they cost a lot to maintain. (1) Insurance companies don't even pay for vehicle maintenance and (2) It's a well known fact that EVs cost less to maintain than equivalent ICE vehicles.
But how long can an EV last? I bought my Dodge Ram back in 2003, and it's still going strong, and I co-own an auto repair garage so I can get all my vehicles maintained and repaired for very little due to the fact I have wholesale buying power.
Yikes on $585 a month to insure. Mine is only around $500 per 6 months.
It's Florida. I guess the insurance companies think a hurricane is going to hit us every year. We also have a lot of people who drive without insurance that don't help matters. I own rental properties and 3 businesses, and you don't want to know how much I pay for insurance for those places.
The article linked to says the biggest factor is the cars they sampled simply cost more to buy, thus to insure. I mean how much more self-evident can this be?
I chose between a Clarity and an Accord Hybrid with more or less the same trim levels and the insurance quotes (USAA) tracked accordingly...to the purchase price.
If you are capable of looking at trends, it's not hard to predict. We've gone over that before. Prices are coming down and have come down almost 10 fold since your Volt was built. So it's not a "guess". It's already happening.
USAA is also only for those in the military or direct relatives to the military and they can get much lower premiums than other carriers. But this is a fact, that electric cars are 23 to 50 percent more to insure than other gas vehicles.
And I live in Florida where the insurance companies love to raise rates.
I've cross shopped USAA with Progressive and Geico and their rates pretty much are the same (which is why I haven't changed No reason to if there's no real benefit). I had a custom Volt before the Bolt and it was the same.
And no it's not a fact that they cost that much more to insure than equivalent gas vehicles. Otherwise I'd be paying more regardless of carrier. Look at the General for your own rates. Try the Progressive match feature. BTW, you're saying EVs cost more, but the only one you want and checked on is the more expensive Tesla. Did you perchance check and see how much a BMW M340i costs you to insure? Or an Audi S4 or RS4? Because those are it's competition, not a damn Kia.
But how long can an EV last? I bought my Dodge Ram back in 2003, and it's still going strong,
Well, the trends are looking pretty good, but the oldest modern EV (Li-Ion batteries) are a mere 10 years old, so... and there have been 3 generations of EVs since those first ones, with improved batteries and improved ability since then. Again, the maintenance is minimal compared to gas cars, and easy enough to DIY the non-warranty bits (wipers, tires, brakes), so it should be plenty easy to make sure they go long distances. Volts have already been known to go 200-300k miles for the early ones that have been on the road long enough. And they are being DIY'd by a lot of people as they age and get out of warranty.
Well, the trends are looking pretty good, but the oldest modern EV (Li-Ion batteries) are a mere 10 years old, so... and there have been 3 generations of EVs since those first ones, with improved batteries and improved ability since then. Again, the maintenance is minimal compared to gas cars, and easy enough to DIY the non-warranty bits (wipers, tires, brakes), so it should be plenty easy to make sure they go long distances. Volts have already been known to go 200-300k miles for the early ones that have been on the road long enough. And they are being DIY'd by a lot of people as they age and get out of warranty.
There are several reports about the 2014 Volt with dead batteries around 35,000 miles. You would have to look at the independent Chevy Volt user forums where the 2014 and 2018 Volts are listed.
By the way, while I am not bashing EV's, I just don't consider any multi-cell battery as a reliable component. Yes, most work fine for a certain period of time, specially if all the proper conditions are maintained, but EV battery technology has not been nailed down. It is relatively new and evolving.
Now, in relation to battery longevity data, anybody who is interested to know about such things may be able to find it here. Just keep in mind that most of the data comes from Tesla: https://insideevs.com/news/334075/ho...-battery-last/
Last edited by RayinAK; 03-19-2021 at 03:48 PM..
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