Under the advertising campaign of cost-saving for new energy vehicles by the Chinese Communist Party, many Chinese consumers have opted for electric cars. However, recently there have been increasing complaints about electric cars being “fuel-efficient but not cost-saving”.
According to reports by Fenghuang Net Finance and Fast Technology on the 18th, for car owners like “Dream Chaser”, the new force electric cars are far from worry-free.
“Dream Chaser” is an art teacher with a modest income who lives 40 kilometers away from work and needs a commuting vehicle. Due to limited income and being swayed by the manufacturer’s ads about cost-saving electric cars, he bought a G6 electric car. As a result, he encountered difficulties in renewing his car insurance this year.
“The insurance company said that I drove over 20,000 kilometers in a year, suspecting it was for ride-hailing services, so they refused to renew my policy,” said “Dream Chaser”, puzzled by the fact that he bought the electric car precisely because it was supposed to save money – now they won’t allow him to drive more?
Car owner Xi Yiwei also had a similar experience. He mentioned that his (XPeng Motors) P7 had been on the road for three years, with only a few minor accidents, yet a major insurance company outright rejected coverage. Left with no choice, he turned to a smaller insurance company, but the premium immediately doubled. In three years, the premium increased from over 6,000 yuan to over 10,000 yuan.
“It’s almost as expensive as commercial vehicle insurance,” said Xi Yiwei, noting that the annual insurance for his petrol car at home is only a little over 5,000 yuan, and with fewer accidents, the premium would even decrease. As the insurance renewal approaches each year, various insurance companies would proactively offer discounts over the phone. However, after purchasing a new energy vehicle, he no longer had this privilege – “Petrol car owners are like masters, insurance companies beg you to register, new energy car owners are like grandsons, even if you plead, they won’t process it for you.”
These types of issues have surfaced multiple times, with many car owners previously reporting increases in insurance premiums for new energy vehicles, albeit at varying rates across different models. In response to the complaints from the aforementioned car owners, many individuals in the insurance industry have indicated that the overall claim payment rate for new energy vehicles in the insurance industry is roughly more than 10 percentage points higher compared to petrol vehicles.
In addition to the claim payment rate, the high cost of claims is also one of the reasons hindering the profitability of new energy vehicle insurance. There are many factors contributing to the higher claims, including the integrated structure of new energy vehicles and the high maintenance costs due to the installation of intelligent equipment.