, the data could tell a different story. In fact, while the average repair costs of an EV following an accident are indeed higher, they’re not markedly so over their ICE counterparts.
At first glance, Mitchell’s results show that EVs cost $2,400 more, on average, to fix than combustion vehicles after an accident. However, 75 percent of electric cars that are involved in accidents are classed as luxury models which are between $40,000 and $110,000 when new. Fixing a more mainstream EV – such as those from Nissan – costs only $800 more than its ICE equivalent, while premium segment vehicles are roughly equal in their repair costs.
There are other factors at play too. According to the data, 18 percent of combustion vehicles involved in crashes have to be written off, while only 6 percent of EVs are totaled. Meanwhile, according to evidence from the Highway Loss Data Institute, for models that are available in both electric and ICE variants, such as the