Electric Car Insurance: are they REALLY more expensive? Tesla/EVs v ICE compared. What do you pay?

I’ve been asked a lot recently to share my thoughts on insurance. Some say it’s much more expensive than it used to be and there are many newspaper and media headlines claiming electric cars as being hugely expensive compared to ICE, but are they really?

In this episode I run some comparisons between various cars based on our quotes on staff in the offices here.
We each get quotes for various cars, then take the cheapest of each and average it across us, from 27-49 year olds at our home addresses and how we would sue them. Fair real world comparison but of course with insurance there are so many variables!
Where you live, age, dependents, driving history and more. We can’t test everything but this is what we found for us!

I’ll also share some opinions on why Tesla insurance may be high. But…. If we compare to similar performance and price bracket cars, are they Really more expensive?

Apparently insurance as a whole has gone up by 58% in the last year (not for EVs, but ALL car insurance, on average)

Let me know what comparison you have!

Thanks for watching

Richard Symons
R Symons LTD "RSEV"
EV Specialist based in New Milton, Hampshire on the South Coast near Southampton and Bournemouth
Follow daily storyboard posts on our Instagram and Facebook pages

Merch store:

If we have helped you decide to buy a new Tesla, please order via the referral link below

Use my referral link to purchase a Tesla product and get cash off (at time of writing) and other exclusive benefits.

[evdabbler]

Well done on helping keep the facts straight. I ran a similar exercise a month ago (and posted results on yt). 10 evs, 10 petrol cars of similar value, preferably same brand/same model. Focused on sub£25k segment. Got a 9% difference, with £40 more expensive on EV vs petrol when looking at cheapest quote. Or 16% / £81 when looking at average of best 10 quotes... so pretty similar prices and main takeaway was that shopping around when renewing insurance is a must this year.

[ThePrancingDonkey]

I don't have an EV, but I'll share my experience. I have a C63s Estate and my insurance has typically been £550-580 with NCB protection. This year struggled to get anything under £1000 - identical circumstances, no accidents or fines. Some of the major insurance companies - LV, Direct Line, AA etc have quoted me north of £2k, with Tesco and Halifax in the £1200 - £1600 range. I managed to get a price for £800 in the end by shopping around much more than typical. It's a pain calling them up or filling in the same details multiple times for each quote - but getting quotes directly from the insurance companies themselves proved to be effective. Hopefully things calm down in the coming year. Great content guys. Cheers.

[deanmiller]

Thanks Richard. Great video and lots of work. Someone hit my model 3 long range whilst trying to park and dented the rear wing and bumper. Luckily they came and found me so it’s being sorted at no cost to me through insurance. I couldn’t believe the cost of the hire car. For a Model 3 long range equivalent, £560 per day!! At that price they would get a brand new car every 90 days. Someone is making good money from us. I will make sure I check over the repair quality as it has gone to a Tesla approved body shop. Luckily they have good reviews.

[garyrooksby]

Thanks for sharing such balance and experience, Richard.

[ientwistle]

I used an approved body shop in the leeds area for a small ding on the rear wing and it cost £280 inc vat .This included a very nice curtesy car, they treated me like royalty and showed me around the workshops. Very very happy with the work .

[petersort]

Model 3 long range last year £520 this year £880 no change in my details live london suberbs and i am 75
Keep up the goodwork love what you do

[UK_Goldies]

As you highlight, I think a lot of this is about the insurance market in general and people being realistic about what they are driving in terms of cost and performance. I moved to a Tesla M3 RWD in September and before going ahead researched car insurance because I was moving from a 9yo VW Passat Diesel Estate. Being 60 and a clean driving licence my Passat insurance was £213 per year (incl protected NCB and legal policy and additional driver with 3 no fault claims) and had 6 months to run on it. I went to the comparison sites and quotes for the Tesla were around £650 which I decided was within the pain barrier for moving to a Group 50 car from one that was Group 22 and went ahead. Updated my details at Churchill for the Tesla and was pleasantly surprised that the additional premium was £37 for the remaining 6 months though the excess more than doubled to £600. I am expecting a significant increase next year on renewal but will do what I do every year - shop around and speak to my current insurer.

[hazelbrowne]

Great video thank you! It took a huge amount of work to pull this together. I’m currently deciding on my next car (which will be electric) and insure has has factored very highly as I have a lot of concerns around the cost. Your video is massively helpful thank you!

[s.kxx]

My renewal for MY was £4k but went on confused and got it back down to what it was before

[Paul-Thomas-LifeCoach]

Excellent piece of reporting Richard. Really good detail.

[mikedenby]

Thanks for doing this research Richard, all very interesting to see the various prices/comparisons with ICE cars. Have just renewed my Hyundai Ioniq 5 car insurance. Had a 20% rise from November 2022 for Nov 2023 (now £316) using same insurance company. Comparison sites all higher than this.

[maricelaandrew]

Finally, thanks for doing a video about the elephant in the room. My Yaris costs £265 to insure. 63 years old, no points, full no claims. I was quoted £625 for an eNiro and £480 for the petrol version

[SmartMart]

My Model Y renewal went from £450 to £750 this year. I managed to haggle it down to £450 again after getting quotes from price comparison websites. Also by insuring my house with the same insurer (Churchill) that got me an extra discount. I've found it's always best to shop around each year and armed with lower quotes you can often get your current insurer to price match or bend over backwards to keep your custom. If they won't play ball then you can move insurer if you find one cheaper. Insurance companies are renowned for upping your premium every year - so it's always best to shop around and haggle for the best price.

[TheTechOnline]

25 on the south coast and cost me £1000 for 10, 000 miles, 4year NCB on a M3 LR. Some say it's cheap but I paid £650 last year with Churchill who refused to insure me this year. Crazy times.

[alisterbrown]

I spoke to an EV breaker recently and they said the insurance assessors are a law onto themselves writing off nearly new cars that could be fixed for a few hundred pounds.
We're still in the early stages of EV's and people are either cashing in on the FUD or have not been trained properly to handle EV's so are making poor decisions.

[alangordon]

Great to share this as I think people forget how expensive and fast some of these ev’s are when comparing premiums!

[witsend]

I do have an EV with over 30 years NC bonus. Last year my car fully comp was £320, this year I was quoted £2275. No accidents or claims in the last 12 months. Car is the same car I have had for 3 years. 1st year premium £270, then £320 and now switched and paying £1235.

Took 6 month cover and will change to ICE soon.

[peterholmlund]

Much appreciated Richard! Same thing everywhere it seems. Insurance seems to be a fantastic business. You can claim anything you want to increase premiums and customers must pay because insurance is mandatory.

[marekcegielski]

Really useful video Richard, thank you!

[kimkimkim]

It's good that you showed the difference between all car insurance, I test drove a Tesla model Y long range and fell in love, and for my family, it would be the perfect car. I'm in a 22 reg nissan leaf on pcp and next year, I intend to change. Hopefully, it will be with you guys. Red with white interior. Lol ❤ 👍🏼😉