Why damaged batteries may result in the total write-off of electric cars by insurers

General Motors workers connect a battery pack under a partially assembled Chevrolet Bolt EV. Reuters

For many electric vehicles, there is no way to repair or assess even slightly damaged battery packs after accidents, forcing insurance companies to write off cars with only a few kilometres on the clock — leading to higher premiums and undercutting gains from going electric.

Those battery packs are now piling up in scrapyards in some countries, a previously unreported and expensive gap in what was supposed to be a "circular economy".

"We're buying electric cars for sustainability reasons," said Matthew Avery, research director at automotive risk intelligence company Thatcham Research. "But an EV isn't very sustainable if you've got to throw the battery away after a minor collision."

Battery packs can cost tens of thousands of dollars and represent up to 50 per cent of an EV's price tag, often making it uneconomical to replace them.

While some carmakers such as Ford Motor and General Motors said they have made battery packs easier to repair, Tesla Inc has taken the opposite tack with its Texas-built Model Y, whose new structural battery pack has been described by experts as having "zero repairability".

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

A Reuters search of EV salvage sales in the US and Europe shows a large portion of low-mileage Teslas, but also models from Nissan Motor Co, Hyundai Motor Co, Stellantis, BMW, Renault and others.

EVs constitute only a fraction of vehicles on the road, making industry-wide data hard to come by, but the trend of low-mileage zero-emission cars being written off with minor damage is growing. Tesla's decision to make battery packs "structural" — part of the car's body — has allowed it to cut production costs but risks pushing those costs back to consumers and insurers.

Tesla has not referred to any problems with insurers writing off its vehicles. But in January, chief executive Elon Musk said premiums from third-party insurance companies "in some cases were unreasonably high."

Unless Tesla and other carmakers produce more easily repairable battery packs and provide third-party access to battery cell data, already high insurance premiums will keep rising as EV sales grow and more low-mileage cars get scrapped after collisions, insurers and industry experts said.

"The number of cases is going to increase, so the handling of batteries is a crucial point," said Christoph Lauterwasser, managing director of the Allianz Centre for Technology.

Mr Lauterwasser noted EV battery production emits far more carbon dioxide than fossil-fuel models, meaning EVs must be driven for thousands of kilometres before they offset those extra emissions.

"If you throw away the vehicle at an early stage, you've lost pretty much all advantage in terms of carbon dioxide emissions," he said.

Most carmakers say their battery packs are repairable, though few seem willing to share access to the relevant data. Insurers, leasing companies and car repair shops are already fighting with carmakers in the EU over access to lucrative connected-car data.

Mr Lauterwasser said access to EV battery data is part of that fight. Allianz has seen scratched battery packs where the cells inside are likely undamaged, but without diagnostic data it has to write off those vehicles.

Ford and GM tout their newer, more repairable packs. But the new, large 4,680 cells in the Model Y made at Tesla's Austin plant Texas are glued into a pack that forms part of the car's structure and cannot be easily removed or replaced, experts said.

In January, Mr Musk said the carmaker had been making design and software changes to its vehicles to lower repair costs and insurance premiums.

The company also offers its own insurance product in a dozen US states to Tesla owners at lower rates.

Insurers and industry experts also note that EVs, because they are loaded with all the latest safety features, so far have had fewer accidents than traditional cars.

Sandy Munro, head of Michigan-based Munro & Associates, which tears down vehicles and advises manufacturers on how to improve them, said the Model Y battery pack had "zero repairability".

"A Tesla structural battery pack is going straight to the grinder," he said.

EV battery problems also expose a hole in the green "circular economy" touted by carmakers.

1. Tesla Model 3 – 34,783 sold in 2021. Getty Images

2. Kia e-Niro – 12,271. Getty Images

3. Volkswagen ID 3 – 11,032. Getty Images

4. Nissan Leaf – 9,052. Getty Images

5. Audi e-tron – 7,396. Alamy

6. Hyundai Kona – 7,199. Getty Images

7. Mini Electric – 6,615. Getty Images

8. Renault Zoe – 5,778. Getty Images

9. Vauxhall Corsa-e – 5,605. Alamy

10. MG ZS – 5,380. Getty Images

At Synetiq, the UK's largest salvage company, head of operations Michael Hill said that over the past 12 months the number of EVs in the isolation bay — where they must be checked to avoid fire risk — at the firm's Doncaster yard had soared from perhaps a dozen every three days to up to 20 per day.

"We've seen a really big shift and it's across all manufacturers," Mr Hill said.

The UK currently has no EV battery recycling facilities, so Synetiq has to remove the batteries from written-off cars and store them in containers. Mr Hill estimated at least 95 per cent of the cells in the hundreds of EV battery packs — and thousands of hybrid battery packs — Synetiq has stored at Doncaster are undamaged and should be reused.

It already costs more to insure most EVs than traditional cars.

According to online brokerage Policygenius, the average US monthly EV insurance payment this year is $206, or 27 per cent more than for a combustion-engine model.

According to Bankrate, an online publisher of financial content, US insurers know that "if even a minor accident results in damage to the battery pack ... the cost to replace this key component may exceed $15,000".

A replacement battery for a Tesla Model 3 can cost up to $20,000 for a vehicle that sells for about $43,000 but depreciates quickly over time.

Andy Keane, UK commercial motor product manager at French insurer AXA, said expensive replacement batteries "may sometimes make replacing a battery unfeasible".

There are a growing number of repair shops specialising in repairing EVs and replacing batteries. In Phoenix, Arizona, Gruber Motor Co has focused mostly on replacing batteries in older Tesla models.

But insurers cannot access Tesla's battery data, so they have taken a cautious approach, owner Peter Gruber said.

"An insurance company is not going to take that risk because they're facing a lawsuit later on if something happens with that vehicle and they did not total it," he said.

The British government is funding research into EV insurance "pain points" led by Thatcham, Synetiq and insurer LV=.

Recently adopted EU battery regulations do not specifically address battery repairs, but they did ask the European Commission to encourage standards to "facilitate maintenance, repair and repurposing", a commission source said.

Insurers said they know how to fix the problem — make batteries in smaller sections, or modules, that are simpler to fix, and open diagnostics data to third parties to determine battery cell health.

Individual US insurers declined to comment.

But Tony Cotto, director of auto and underwriting policy at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said "consumer access to vehicle-generated data will further enhance driver safety and policyholders' satisfaction ... by facilitating the entire repair process".

Lack of access to critical diagnostic data was this month raised in a class action filed against Tesla in a US District Court in California.

Insurers said failure to act would cost consumers.

EV battery damage makes up only a few per cent of Allianz's motor insurance claims, but 8 per cent of claims costs in Germany, Mr Lauterwasser said. Germany's insurers pool data on vehicle claims data and adjust premium rates annually.

"If the cost for a certain model gets higher, it will raise premium levels because the rating goes up," he added.