There is no alternative way to repair or check out the batteries after the accident because insurers never get battery data from the car-makers
Of late, a new research report that surfaced online stated that if the batteries of electric cars suffer minor damage during a road crash, then there is a high chance of discarding the car. Reports from Reuters mentioned that there is no alternative way to repair or check out the batteries after the accident because insurers never get battery data from the car-makers.
The point to be noted is that this is only applicable to those EVs that are crafted with a battery pack as a structural unit. Tesla Model Y, BYD Atto 3, Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq are some of the instances of the same mentioned above. Media also reported this problem could persist from the upcoming electric cars also because Mahindra’s upcoming electric vehicles also have the same design structure for the battery packs. Even in the UK, the battery data problem has become a huge trouble for the insurance firms, the vehicles are forced to be scrapped in this case, which turns out to be a huge loss for the buyer.
In an effort to reduce carbon emissions in the environment, governments in numerous countries are undertaking efforts to boost electric vehicles and over the past few years, the sector has gained huge traction among the people. Same as the EU and the US, sales of EVs have escalated, which is spearheaded by Mahindra, Hyundai, Tata and many more. One of the biggest reasons for the popularity of electric cars is the lower operating costs unlike IC combustion engines vehicles.
Explaining the concerns of scrapping policy, experts have stated that in an electric vehicle the battery is a major component that adds the value of the vehicles to almost 50 percent and changing this component turns out to be very costly. The situation implies that even if there is small damage on the battery pack, the car is of no use. Another challenge is that many of the car-makers are not even proving any repair option of the battery that has made the insurance premiums colossal.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla said that in certain instances, premiums from the third-party insurance firms are very high. Now, in India the solution is going for Return To Invoice in which the buyers can grab compensation equal to the vehicle’s invoice value. This is applicable when the vehicle cannot be repaired anymore or stolen.
In the UK, the volume of electric cars coming to the scrapyards have escalated massively in the past few months. The island nation does not have any battery recycling plant and the batteries are either going to the grinder or the authorities carefully remove the packs and put them in a container. This is increasing environment problems at a large-scale.
