Electric Cars Mean Big Overall Savings

By Author: Norris Rios
Total Articles: 568
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Want lower auto insurance premiums? An electric car might be a way to secure yourself lower payments! In addition to being better for the environment and cheaper to fuel, electric cars can also let you pay less to cover your vehicle.

Why Buy an Electric Car?

Electric cars (or "EVs" as they are typically called) are already smart decisions for a number of reasons. The fact that they use electric power rather than gasoline makes them both less expensive to fuel and much better for the environment. (Electricity often comes from coal-fired power plants, which are far from "green", however the net impact on the Earth is less than conventional gasoline vehicles.)

Why Electric Cars Can Cost Less

Insurers track as many factors as possible in calculating insurance rates - that's their business. In spite of electric cars being a relatively new phenomenon, some analysts have already come to a few conclusions about electric cars ("EVs") that make lowering premiums a sensible idea.

Conscientious Drivers

Drivers of electric cars are typically not reckless drivers. Most EVs are not sports cars - they ...
... are built for efficiency. Furthermore, electric cars are typically tethered to one power source, unlike their gasoline-powered cohorts. This means that drivers of EVs are much more likely to drive short distances. Driving short distances means less overall driving, which translates to a much lower instance of accidents.

EV drivers typically use their vehicles for commuting short distances, such as to and from work. These commutes happen during normal daylight hours, not late at night or early in the morning (which are the peak times for an accident).

Simple and Effective Technology

Although electric cars are relatively new to the road vehicle market, they contain relatively few moving parts and embrace technology that has existed for decades in golf carts and other electric-powered devices. Reduced movement means reduced friction, and thus reduced wear-and-tear. Technology that is well understood also has a proven track record and is less prone to causing expensive or dangerous surprises.

Some Exceptions

Of course, EV does not equal lower insurance premiums. There are several factors that can work against you lowering your premiums.

Cost to Repair

Although the technology that goes into electric cars is well known to the technical community and thus not prone to surprises in mechanical breakdowns, EVs are not widely understood by mechanics. Often, they require specially-trained technicians to be serviced. Worse, a lot of the parts used in EVs are understandably new, rare, and sometimes expensive. This can be a serious hit to your car insurance costs.

Comparing by Looking Online

Ultimately, to really know how much you'll pay for car insurance, you'll need to check with insurance companies to see how they treat electric cars. With EVs still a relatively new addition to the vehicle marketplace, rates and policies will likely vary tremendously from one insurer to another, so make sure you understand each policy and how they compare. The best way to do this is generally by looking for car insurance quotes online, which allows you to quickly compare many different companies, who will likely have many different policies regarding electric cars.