Electric cars are more expensive. Both to buy and to repair. But a comparison from a German sight chain goes directly against an American one when it comes to the difference.
There is no doubt that electric cars are both more expensive to purchase and repair. But how much more expensive depends on how you twist and turn the numbers.
According to the German inspection chain Dekra, which is also present in Denmark, other surveys exaggerate when it comes to the price difference between damaged electric and fossil-fuel cars. At least when the Germans compare with their own numbers.
This is what the vision company writes in a press release .
Dekra claims to have asked ordinary Germans with electric cars for almost 200,000 damage reports. And yes – electric cars are more expensive to repair than other cars. It's just not as expensive as other studies claim, says Dekra.
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The rejection – or the killing of the myth if you like – the inspection company justifies that electric cars are significantly younger than both petrol and diesel cars when they suffer an injury.
Therefore, Dekra will also only compare cars that are no more than three years old with each other. And that regardless of whether the cars run on diesel, petrol or electricity. Because then the difference is 'only' 10 percent.
Another reason why the electric car costs more to repair, says Dekra, is related to long waiting times and poor opportunities to repair the cars in general.
– If a bumper needs to be replaced, the type of fuel does not play a decisive role. But if the battery on the electric car is damaged, it naturally has a serious impact on the repair work, says Bernd Grüninger from Dekra.
However, Dekra does not mention in a single word that there are also electric cars that are significantly older than three years. The oldest Tesla Model S is about 12 years old, if you take the model year as a starting point.
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