EV repairs slower and more costly
A new study from Activate Group has found that key-to-key times for EV and hybrid vehicles are up to 16% longer than vehicles with combustion engines.
This is based on data from more than 100,000 claims handled by Activate Group.
Overall, the average key-to-key times for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) was 1.5 days longer than for combustion engine counterparts. AFVs also face an increased parts to labour ratio, with EVs 29% higher, while hybrids were 66% higher than ICE vehicles.
Jo Seys, head of engineering at Activate Group, said: “As a result of the complexity of AFVs, labour and repair costs are higher than ICE vehicles, with parts costing twice as much as labour for EV repairs. For most repairs, the battery must be powered down before work can begin and powered up at completion. This can take up to an hour in total. In some cases, the battery must be removed, and reinstalled at the end of the job. Times vary, but this process can add up to four hours of labour time.”
Seys continued: “The high voltage batteries cannot come into close contact with heat. This means they often need longer in the paint oven on lower temperatures and fast curing methods, such as infra-red are not suitable from some AFV repairs.”
