Why Is It So Expensive to Insure Electric Motorcycles?
Buying an electric motorcycle is an eco-friendly and affordable car replacement for your daily commute. While they can save you a lot of money in fuel, insurance can cost way more compared to an equivalent internal combustion-engined bike.
We break down why insurance for electric motorcycles is so expensive.
Electric Motorcycles Are a New Technology
Insurance companies assess risk when deciding how much you need to pay for your insurance, and for this, they need data.
In addition to the EV-specific factors listed in this article, insurance providers want data on how frequently a particular vehicle type or model is involved in accidents or claims, the effectiveness of anti-theft measures, and the cost of any claims. They will also take into account anyelectric motorcycle accessories, as these can increase the value of your motorcycle.
Mass-produced electric motorcycles are a new phenomenon, so they only account for a tiny proportion of motorcycles on the road. For many insurance underwriters, the electric motorcycle market share simply isn’t large enough for them to bother collating the limited data available and assessing the risk. For those few underwriters who will quote for electric bikes, there’s very little competition, and they may consider it safer to err on the side of caution and just charge you more so that they feel covered.
Electric Motorbikes Are Especially Attractive to Thieves
There are some difficulties associated with stealing a motorcycle, but the biggest one is that they’re loud. Sure, you can sneak up on someone’s driveway, cut the security chain, and make the necessary wiring modifications to get the bike started, but then the entire household wakes up.
Motorcycles are not known for their subtle and gentle purrs, and the boom from a loud modified exhaust at 3 in the morning is sure to annoy the neighbors, who will then call the police before you even make it out of the suburbs. Electric motorcycles don’t have this issue, and once thieves manage to start your pride and joy, they can proceed at high speed without being noticed.
Even if criminals don’t want to or can’t manage to steal your motorbike, they’re still motivated to steal parts of it. On a typical electric motorcycle, the battery makes up roughly half of the purchase price. Most electric motorcycles have removable batteries located under the seat, and it only takes a few minutes with a prying tool to extract them. What makes this even easier for thieves is the fact that, even though the batteries are heavy, they’re designed to be portable thanks to their carry handles. This just means it’s more likely you’ll have to make a claim on your insurance, and your insurer is well aware of this.
Electric Motorcycles Can Be Hard to Repair
In the event that you crash your bike or recover it after it’s been stolen, you expect your insurance company to pay for repairs. With a combustion bike, these repairs would normally be carried out by your local mechanic, who would order in parts as needed and just use spanners and other conventional tools to fit them. As electric motorcycles are still pretty new compared to ICE motorcycles, there’s a shortage of technicians with relevant expertise and experience in fixing them.
Electric motorcycles rely on complex electronic systems, including motor controllers,battery management systems, and sensors. Knowing what’s wrong and how to fix it is hard, and because of the potentially dangerous high voltages involved, many non-specialist mechanics are reluctant to attempt repairs. The availability of parts and their high cost is another issue.
Remember, if your bike isn’t in a safe or rideable condition, you’ll needroadside assistanceto get it to a garage.
Electric Motorcycles Can Cause a Lot of Damage
Insurance doesn’t just cover damage to you and your bike; it has to cover the potential damage you do to other people and property.
If you crash a gasoline bike and damage the fuel tank, there’s a possibility that you might leak fuel onto the road. There may even be a fire, which could damage nearby vehicles.
For an electric motorcycle, though, the biggest risk factor is the battery. When a lithium-ion pack catches fire, the blaze can be incredibly intense and difficult to extinguish. Such fires can even reignite themselves and burn for hours or even days, blocking and damaging roads. Thefastest electric motorcyclesand theelectric motorcycles with the longest rangetend to have bigger batteries, so the risk factor is increased.
Insurance for Electric Motorcycles Will Get Cheaper
Insurance costs are high for electric motorcycles, but it’s likely they’ll drop considerably as more bikes appear on the road, more mechanics learn how to work on them, and more underwriters are willing to take the risk of insuring them.
You should certainly take the insurance cost into consideration when deciding which electric motorcycle to buy, but there are several other important factors to think about as well.
You may need to prioritize picking an electric motorbike with practical features like a removable battery over one that delivers performance or range.
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