《TAIPEI TIMES》 New EV insurance premiums far less than expected

By Lee Ching-hui and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, staff writer

While electric vehicles （EVs） are slated to receive separate insurance plans from July 1, the insurance rates for them would remain on par with, or only slightly higher than, those for gas-powered vehicles.

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The Taiwanese EV market is dominated by Tesla Inc, with the best-selling models being the Model 3 and the Model Y, insurance companies said yesterday.

The total number of EVs still only make up less than 0.005 percent of all vehicles in Taiwan, while gas-powered cars make up about 94 percent and hybrids make up 5.5 percent, they added.

However, unlike conventional gas-powered vehicles, EVs are considered to be written off after any sort of collision, large or small, and the entire chassis must be swapped out, resulting in repair fees exceeding hundreds of thousands of New Taiwan dollars, the companies said.

Based on the principle of fairness, the government has introduced a new insurance plan for EVs, as this would prevent owners of gas-powered vehicles from footing the repair bills of electric vehicle owners.

However, the premium rates for EVs would not be 50 percent higher than those for gas-powered vehicles, as some insurance companies had predicted.

Using referential rates issued by the Taiwan Insurance Institute, the insurance companies’ calculations show that type A plans for EVs, or comprehensive insurance plans, would cost the same as the comprehensive plans for gas-powered vehicles, while type B and C plans would be 6.8 percent and 9 percent more expensive respectively.

Type B insurance plans cover everything that a type A plan would except for intentional damage by a third party, while type C plans only insure the driver for vehicle-on-vehicle collisions, the insurance companies said.

The owner of a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range would have to pay NT$46,000 a year at most, if they take out type A insurance, while the owner of a Luxgen N7 would have to pay NT$34,000 per year, they said, citing the referential rates.

People who have taken out a type A insurance plan would not see an increase in insurance fees on July 1.

Owners of a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range vehicle or a Tesla Model Y rear-wheel drive vehicle who have taken out a type B insurance plan would see a NT$3,000 increase in their fees on July 1, while owners of the Luxgen N7 would see a NT$3,300 increase.

People with a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range vehicle or a Tesla Model Y rear-wheel drive vehicle with type C insurance, would see an increase of NT$1,500, while Luxgen N7 owners would pay NT$1,000 more.

EV owners whose insurance policies are due next month or in August can maintain their current rates if they renew their policies by the end of this month, insurance companies said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES