General Insurance Article - Electric cars are almost 50% more expensive to insure

 As the number of electric car buyers continues to rise, with electric vehicle registrations increasing by 32% in the past year and the Government announcing that the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars will be banned by 2040, those looking to ‘go green’ will have to consider whether, amongst other factors, the high insurance cost makes choosing an electric car an affordable option.

 New analysis of electric car insurance quote data found that the Nissan Leaf was, by some way, the most popular electric car with 38.7% of quotes, followed by the Renault Zoe and the Tesla Model S which both had just over 15% of quotes through comparethemarket.com.

 This research comes as a new Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill was announced during the Queen’s Speech last month, aiming to improve the infrastructure behind electric cars through increasing the number of charging points. The bill also hopes to drive consumer adoption, which may be difficult in the face of the high premium placed on having an electric car.

 Simon McCulloch, Director at comparethemarket.com, said:“Electric cars can be expensive, as their production has yet to reach a volume which will enable economies of scale in their manufacturing and distribution costs. However, people looking to purchase an electric vehicle need to consider carefully the overall running costs, including insurance, as well as road tax and charging costs. While many incentives are being taken to promote the use of electric vehicles, including increased numbers of charging stations and tax breaks for electric car owners, this data shows that potential owners need to consider other factors too, particularly for the entry level electric models, where the cost of insurance could swing the purchasing decision back in favour of a petrol or diesel model.”