Mitchell report highlights an increase in EV collision claims

Mitchell has reported that electric vehicle (EV) repairable claims frequency increased in Q1 2023 to 1.13% in the U.S. and 2.41% in Canada. The data was featured in the company’s latest Plugged-In: EV Collision Insights publication, which provides up-to-date EV claims and market information to the auto insurance and repair industries.

According to the report, the Ford Mustang Mach-E continued to capture additional repairable marketshare as it maintained the fourth position in U.S. EV frequency. The Cadillac LYRIQ and Rivian R1S sport utility vehicles entered U.S. collision repair facilities for the first time in Q1 2023, with the Rivian R1T slowly gaining ground as well but still well outside the top 10 most frequently repaired EVs.

“EV sales broke records in 2022 and the combination of high gas prices, government incentives and increased vehicle production helped drive consumer demand,” said Ryan Mandell, director of claims performance at Mitchell. “With more EVs on the road, there will naturally be more EV collision claims. That puts a strain on auto insurers, who must balance policyholder expectations with higher-than-average vehicle repair costs and cycle time. It also puts a strain on collision repairers tasked with properly and safely restoring these automobiles to OEM standards.”

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global EV sales are expected to grow another 35% this year and reach 14 million by the end of 2023. If the latest IEA projections are met, the share of EVs in the overall car market will have risen from approximately 4% in 2020 to 14% in 2022 and 18% in 2023. Additionally, Cox Automotive reports that the U.S. recorded a record-breaking first quarter with EV sales surpassing 250,000 and 7.2% of total new vehicle sales— setting the expectation that EV sales growth will surpass that of the industry for the foreseeable future.

To highlight the impact of electrification on automotive claims, Mitchell also compared data from Q4 2022 to Q1 2023, showing that EV:

Average repairable severity has decreased to $4,749 in the U.S. and $6,406 in Canada but remains higher than for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles;
OEM parts usage and the percentage of parts repaired increased to 90.76% and 12.68% respectively;
Refinish time is nearly an hour more than for ICE automobiles (an average of 8.33 compared to 7.4), adding to claim costs;
Models new to the market are now entering U.S. collision repair facilities for the first time.