OT: Electric Vehicles--anyone driving them or seriously looked at them?

[Llewellyn]

Originally Posted by merckxman

There is an article in NYT today about the rising cost of auto insurance. It mentions, "Ron, with a car that is three years younger than Tara’s and has a plug-in hybrid battery that would be expensive to replace, was experiencing sky-high costs of $3,396 per year."

Are you EV buyers experiencing higher insurance costs vs ICE vehicle?

Purely an Australian perspective but it didn't seem that expensive to insure our Volvo XC40's. Less than a grand each for fully comprehensive. I think insuring an ICE would cost about the same.

[Mr. Pink]

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/l...elene-flooding

[saab2000]

^^^ Not good. Also not surprising. It seems intuitive that submersion in salt water can’t be good for a battery, or basically anything else that is not a saltwater marine creature.

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by saab2000

^^^ Not good. Also not surprising. It seems intuitive that submersion in salt water can’t be good for a battery, or basically anything else that is not a saltwater marine creature.

Makes you wonder about the government thinking of legislating battery powered boats/ships.

[dgauthier]

When I read these two articles, I thought of this thread:

From the LA Times on Friday, the plummeting costs of renewable energy:
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...uel-technology

From the BBC today, the UK closes its last coal power station:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y35qz73n8o

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by merckxman

There is an article in NYT today about the rising cost of auto insurance. It mentions, "Ron, with a car that is three years younger than Tara’s and has a plug-in hybrid battery that would be expensive to replace, was experiencing sky-high costs of $3,396 per year."

Are you EV buyers experiencing higher insurance costs vs ICE vehicle?

Mine went down 30% when I went from a hybrid to an ice a few weeks ago. The ice is worth about $11K more than the hybrid. ‘21 Honda accord hybrid —> ‘23 Subaru Outback

[BdaGhisallo]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

When I read these two articles, I thought of this thread:

From the LA Times on Friday, the plummeting costs of renewable energy:
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...uel-technology

From the BBC today, the UK closes its last coal power station:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y35qz73n8o

Then there's this:

The Daily Telegraph 26September, 2024

Britain paying highest electricity prices in the world
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...ices-in-world/

"Cost of power for industrial businesses now four times more expensive than in US."

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by BdaGhisallo

Then there's this:

The Daily Telegraph 26September, 2024

Britain paying highest electricity prices in the world
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...ices-in-world/

"Cost of power for industrial businesses now four times more expensive than in US."

I can't read that article, do you have an unpaywalled source?

In the meantime, I found this:
https://www.gbnews.com/money/energy-...ghest-in-world
From the article (emphasis mine):
"(...) UK Steel reports that electricity remains roughly twice as expensive as in Germany. The disparity is attributed to the UK's greater reliance on gas for electricity generation, with 33.7 per cent of power coming from this source in 2023."

[robt57]

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

Mine went down 30% when I went from a hybrid to an ice a few weeks ago. The ice is worth about $11K more than the hybrid. ‘21 Honda accord hybrid —> ‘23 Subaru Outback

Seems maybe a vehicle is a KIA, ICE or not INS is higher.

Our 2018 Kia Sedona cost more than our 2022 Bolt, approx +10%. I wonder if this is not that 2018 Kia is in the ignition security issue model year window, although ours had the KIA security recall done.

The Kia replaced a PHEV Pacifica 2 years newer which also cost less to insure. I kind of miss the PHEV, but I drive like 2-300 mile a month anymore. And decided to cash in, thank you carmax.


EDIT: the Bolt does have collision avoidance system, now that I think of it...

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

Mine went down 30% when I went from a hybrid to an ice a few weeks ago. The ice is worth about $11K more than the hybrid. ‘21 Honda accord hybrid —> ‘23 Subaru Outback

New vehicles are cheaper to insure than even a recent older vehicle.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Makes you wonder about the government thinking of legislating battery powered boats/ships.

It is worth noting that one is designed from the outset to operate in water and the other is designed to operate on occasional wet roads. But submerge any car in water and the outcome is bad. But I get that this is a real thing with EVs and that a fire, while rare, can be serious and that salt water submersion is a very bad combination with a high voltage battery not designed for this.

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by bikinchris

New vehicles are cheaper to insure than even a recent older vehicle.

Why would a common car with equivalent safety features and far less value be more expensive to insure?

[muttley]

I recently was considering a Tesla Model Y or a Honda Prologue (Yes, I know the Prologue is a Blazer EV with Honda emblems). I have all the possible car insurance discounts available, multi-policy, multi-vehicle, clean driving record, etc. and for me the Tesla insurance premium was nearly double that of the Prologue. If you keep a vehicle for 10 years, that could equate to nearly 10k more in insurance for a Tesla, ouch!

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by muttley

I recently was considering a Tesla Model Y or a Honda Prologue (Yes, I know the Prologue is a Blazer EV with Honda emblems). I have all the possible car insurance discounts available, multi-policy, multi-vehicle, clean driving record, etc. and for me the Tesla insurance premium was nearly double that of the Prologue. If you keep a vehicle for 10 years, that could equate to nearly 10k more in insurance for a Tesla, ouch!

Tesla repair parts are very expensive and not widely available.

"Why would a common car with equivalent safety features and far less value be more expensive to insure?"

Don't ask me. Ask insurance companies. In that instance, Subaru does have a good crash survivability reputation.

[dgauthier]

Tesla will also sell you insurance, with the premium based on your driving telemetry.

In this Reddit thread (I know, yuck) Tesla's insurance could be as low as $90 a month.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModel3...nsurance_cost/

Anyone use Tesla's insurance?