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the phenomenon of new energy vehicles "saving fuel but not money" is becoming more and more serious. for the dream chasers who have just purchased a new energy electric car for a year, it is still worrying.

"it started with the appearance, but ended up with the insurance." the dreamer is an art teacher with a low salary. his school is 40 kilometers away from his home, so he needs a car. due to his limited income, he believed the manufacturer's advertisements about electric cars saving money and bought a g6 pure electric car: a large sloping back, a large screen, a smart driving cockpit, and it was very economical in terms of electricity. however, he encountered difficulties in renewing the insurance this year.

"the insurance company said that i drove more than 20,000 kilometers a year, which was suspected to be an online car-hailing vehicle, and they refused to renew the insurance." the dream chaser was very puzzled. he clearly bought the tram because it saved money, so why was he not allowed to drive more?

xi yiwei had a similar experience. he said that he had driven his p7 for three years and had only had a few scratches. the big insurance company directly refused to insure him, so he had no choice but to go to a small insurance company, but the premium doubled. in three years, the premium increased from more than 6,000 yuan to more than 10,000 yuan. "it's almost catching up with commercial vehicle insurance." xi yiwei said that the annual insurance for his family's gasoline car is only more than 5,000 yuan, and the premium will be reduced if there are fewer accidents. every year when it is almost time to pay the insurance, various insurance companies will take the initiative to call for discounts. but after buying a new energy vehicle, he does not have this benefit. "the owner of a gasoline car is the master, and the insurance company begs you to process it. the owner of a new energy vehicle is the grandson, and the insurance company will not process it for you even if you beg him."

insurance has policies, and car owners have countermeasures. it is difficult to insure a family car, so is it okay to insure a commercial vehicle? the insurance of an ordinary family car is about 4,500 yuan, and the insurance of a commercial vehicle is more than 10,000 yuan. the car owner thought he could get a bargain, but he didn't know that the buyer was not as smart as the seller, and he was easily sued.

recently, the linhai people's court of zhejiang province heard a case involving a subrogation claim dispute. in this case, the car owner purchased a family car insurance as a commercial vehicle. the court determined that the insurance company was not liable for compensation within the scope of commercial insurance liability, and ordered the car owner to pay the plaintiff 45,000 yuan in advance for vehicle repairs. in the end, the car owner bought insurance for nothing.

individual car owners are powerless in the face of the insurance company's meticulous monitoring system. all their "little tricks to save money" on insurance are eventually defeated by the insurance company. what follows is an increase in premiums, frequent rejections of insurance, and even lawsuits. saving fuel does not save money or worry.

the problems of insurance refusal and difficulty in renewal have become a chronic disease of new energy insurance. the number of people refused insurance is large, the geographical area is wide, and many car companies are involved. the insurance refusal problems in many places such as guangxi, henan, hubei, and henan have frequently appeared in the newspapers, with a bad social impact.

"it is illegal to refuse insurance" "then go ahead and sue"

after the dream chaser was refused insurance by the insurance company, she proposed to file a complaint with the china insurance regulatory commission against the company. however, she was surprised that the insurance agent was so confident that he told her to sue if she wanted to.

"i'm going to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer and the circ's official website. the government is making a policy, and they're not going to renew the insurance? how are manufacturers going to face consumers?"

the policy that the dreamer is talking about refers to the "notice on effectively carrying out new energy vehicle insurance underwriting work" (hereinafter referred to as the "notice"), which was urgently issued by the state financial supervision and administration bureau to relevant property insurance companies, etc. in january 2024 to provide guidance to auto insurance institutions that underwrite new energy vehicles.

the "notice" requires that all property and casualty insurance companies should attach great importance to the underwriting and service of new energy vehicle insurance, reiterate that compulsory traffic insurance shall not be refused, and commercial insurance "willing to insure as much as possible".

"if there is only compulsory traffic insurance, the amount is too low." compulsory traffic insurance stipulates that the maximum compensation for property damage is 2,000 yuan. xiyiwei once had a minor scratch with a byd dolphin, but the insurance loss was more than 6,500 yuan. however, it only paid 1,600 yuan for a minor scratch with a bmw 5 series fuel car. the price of the two cars differs by 5 times, but the insurance premium is lower. "now i dare not get too close to trams on the street. scratches are more expensive than luxury cars."

"the front of new energy vehicles is a laser radar, the side is a power battery, and there is a 360-degree reversing image in the trunk. it is not cheap no matter where it hits." some netizens complained that new energy vehicles have intelligent driving and endurance, and the body is full of sensors, but the power batteries are getting bigger and bigger, and even a slight scratch may bring high premiums. take the leapmotor t03, which is priced at only 80,000 yuan, as an example. the body is equipped with 1 millimeter-wave radar, 11 laser radars and two visual cameras. the price of a millimeter-wave radar is 1,200 yuan, plus the labor cost of replacement, it is at least 1,500 yuan. due to the precise structure and difficult operation, it is generally only replaced but not repaired, which further pushes up the maintenance costs.

"the problem now is that compulsory traffic insurance certainly cannot cover the risks of daily use, and commercial insurance cannot be enforced. we can only say that we will insure as much as we are willing to. but what if the insurance company is unwilling to insure? can we just refuse to insure? there are so many new energy vehicles on the road now. if there is only compulsory traffic insurance, isn't that irresponsible to passers-by?" xi yiwei spread his hands, helpless about the high premiums.

“is the car company’s own insurance better?”

since third-party insurance is not available, is the manufacturer’s own insurance better?

in august this year, byd announced the second quarter report of its insurance business, with total revenue of 67.2612 million yuan and net profit of 6.03 million yuan. the insurance unit price was only 4,900 yuan, which is lower than the premium of many fuel vehicles.

however, things are not as simple as imagined. although byd's single-vehicle insurance premium is relatively low, the compensation rate is not high, lower than the average compensation rate of new energy vehicle insurance of 85%, only 70%. the reason is its relatively strict restrictive clauses. for example, byd's "three-electric warranty" actually has eight requirements, otherwise the warranty rights will be lost:

vehicle transfer is not allowed

commercial use of vehicles is not permitted

must be regularly maintained at a 4s shop

original parts must be used for maintenance of the three electrical systems

the official mini program or app has passed the certification.

the driving distance within 12 months shall not exceed 30,000 km.

accident repairs must be done at 4s stores.

the accident resulted in the repair of components of the three-electric system.

"there is no new energy vehicle insurance product that is both cheap and has a high compensation rate. everyone is losing money."an insurance practitioner told the author that if you want a quick payout and a high amount, you should buy commercial insurance from first-tier insurance companies. however, many first-tier brands of new energy insurance are losing money and are unwilling to insure car owners. "if you buy second-tier insurance, such as sunshine property & casualty insurance, they are willing to insure you, but you have to pay extra. byd is unique in new energy insurance. it sells a lot of cars and has a large demand for insurance, which can support its own insurance business. it doesn't make much money, so it can only try to reduce the payout and add restrictive clauses, otherwise byd insurance will also lose money."

tesla entered the insurance industry as early as 2019, claiming that its insurance premiums were 30% lower than traditional insurance. however, in china, tesla's own insurance business has not yet been implemented, and the tesla agency was only officially registered in august this year.

however, currently, in my country, except for byd, most automakers such as geely, nio, ideal, and gac only have insurance agency licenses, which means they can only act as brokers for third-party insurance and cannot issue their own insurance products. mercedes-benz insurance agency (beijing) co., ltd., which was registered earlier, not only has not obtained a license until now, but has also been cancelled.

on the one hand, the tightening of auto insurance license applications has optimized the auto insurance market environment and raised the entry threshold, which is conducive to the steady development of the industry and the protection of consumer rights in the long run; on the other hand, faced with the problem of new energy vehicle refusal to insure, auto companies lack autonomy in insurance and are still highly dependent on third-party insurance companies.

but insurance companies are now having a headache over new energy vehicles. data shows that although the current premiums for new energy vehicles are 80% higher than those for fuel vehicles, the comprehensive costs of insurance companies are up to 130% higher, and the accident rate is 100% higher than that of fuel vehicles. for example, for a new energy vehicle company, the annual premium is 8,000 yuan, but the comprehensive cost of the insurance company is 13,000 yuan. the more insurance is sold, the more losses are incurred.

"the biggest problem now is that older fuel vehicles generally have more accidents, while new energy vehicles within three years have more accidents, and the number of accidents is twice that of fuel vehicles." the above-mentioned insurance person said that the problem of commercial insurance rejection actually existed in the era of fuel vehicles, but it was generally for cars over ten years old. insurance companies would increase premiums or refuse insurance after comprehensive evaluation and scoring. however, new energy vehicles frequently have problems within three years, mainly concentrated on power batteries. "it feels like everyone is being a guinea pig."

at the just-concluded china power battery conference, china's highest-level battery industry conference, zeng yuqun, founder of industry leader catl, bluntly stated at the conference that some manufacturers exaggerate battery safety and pass off inferior products as good ones. he said bluntly: "at present, the safety factor of most batteries on the market is far from enough. many products claim that the safety failure rate reaches the ppm level, which is one in a million, but in fact, the safety failure rate is only one in a thousand." according to zeng yuqun, the battery safety indicators of some manufacturers are nearly 100 times different from the actual indicators. they can no longer be simply explained away by errors, but must be taken seriously.

coincidentally, the latest data released by the ministry of public security shows that the fire rate of new energy vehicles is 0.96 per 10,000, which means that one out of every 10,000 new energy vehicles will catch fire. as car owners use more cars, the calendar life and cycle life of batteries are shortened, and battery aging will inevitably lead to a further increase in the accident rate of new energy vehicles, and car owners may have to bear higher insurance premiums in the future.

what should the car owner do?

faced with ever-increasing insurance premiums, car owners are not only complaining to car companies and the china insurance regulatory commission, but are also actively seeking solutions.

after being denied insurance, the dream chaser decided to order a set of explosion-proof car covers. anti-riot car covers were originally used on military armored vehicles, and later became more common on off-road vehicles. they are scratch-resistant, collision-resistant, and corrosion-resistant. the only drawback is that they are ugly, like mud stuck on the wall, and they are expensive. moreover, after spraying the explosion-proof paint, the original paint surface will be damaged, and the manufacturer's warranty will be lost. but for the dream chaser, it avoids the increase in insurance premiums caused by minor scratches, "killing one thousand enemies and injuring eight hundred of your own."

what to do if you want to look good and prevent scratches? many wuling car owners choose a car cover with a double expansion shell. this car cover is very thick, reaching 5 cm, and is divided into soft and hard types. it is made of pvc. when installed on a wuling mini, it looks like a little girl who has eaten too much protein powder. the protection effect may not be good, but the battery life will be worse because it will affect wind resistance and vehicle weight. a car owner measured that the original battery life was 170 kilometers, but after installing the expansion car cover, the battery life dropped by 20-30 kilometers.

on new energy vehicles priced above 300,000 yuan, thin and light tpu invisible car covers are more popular. the "white paper on china's car cover film industry chain" by ratejie consulting shows that the penetration rate of car cover films for new energy vehicles is higher than that for fuel vehicles, reaching 15% in 2023. in the luxury car market above 400,000 yuan, 80% will choose invisible car covers, and the market size will grow to 31.272 billion yuan in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 12%. in other words, car companies and insurance companies have passed the risk of daily scratches on to consumers, giving rise to a huge car cover, car shell and car film market.

more car owners are more pragmatic and install chassis guard plates and spray chassis armor as soon as they pick up the car to prevent battery bumps.

in order to reduce wind resistance, new energy vehicles generally have a lower chassis. when driving on highways, passing speed reduction slopes, passing curbs, or passing through gravel roads, there are concerns about the chassis being scratched and damaging the battery. however, chassis guards are usually not installed when the vehicle leaves the factory, but many 4s stores recommend installing them when users pick up the vehicle.

many manufacturers explicitly recommend not installing chassis guards for safety reasons. new energy vehicles generally use liquid cooling, air cooling and refrigerant cooling battery cooling methods. no matter which type of heat dissipation, it depends on the airflow of the car. unless the manufacturer designs and installs the chassis battery underguard at the factory, it will affect heat dissipation.

but when the author went to byd 4s store to find out, the clerk said that installing a chassis guard plate would not affect heat dissipation, and new energy vehicles have a thermal management system that can automatically adjust the temperature. however, the most complaints are that the chassis battery was scratched by car owners walking on the road. car owners are worried about battery safety and will ask for a battery replacement, "it's more of a psychological effect." the clerk said that minor scratches will not affect the safety of the vehicle after testing, and it is only a cosmetic damage, and 4s generally will not replace the battery. "we recommend installing a guard plate to relieve the psychological burden on car owners and reduce after-sales disputes."

another reason is the old saying that 4s stores usually use car covers, chassis guards, etc. as car decoration gift packages as a means to attract customers to buy. the cost is ultimately passed on to consumers.

all these are essentially measures taken by consumers to reduce insurance claims and avoid high renewal fees, which increase consumers' car use costs. for insurance companies, whether adding car covers or armor, the fact is that the accident rate of new energy vehicles, especially new cars, has increased sharply, and car covers alone cannot solve this problem.

car owners and insurance companies are complaining about losses, so the core problem lies with car companies: how to improve battery safety and optimize the number of sensors? how to choose between a more expensive integrated body and a welded body? how to avoid the phenomenon that the maintenance costs of cheap cars are more expensive than those of luxury cars?

the essence of automobiles is manufacturing. maintenance issues, including insurance, seem to be service issues of insurance companies, but in fact they are product issues of car companies. fortunately, these problems are being gradually resolved. for example, byd’s second-generation lithium iron phosphate released in august this year added manganese to improve battery safety; the intelligent driving solutions of new forces have shifted from expensive laser radar solutions to cheaper pure vision solutions; volkswagen and porsche’s new cars continue to use welded bodies that are easier to repair, etc., all of which show that new energy car companies have abandoned the exaggerated and even pretentious selling points of the past and started to build cars more pragmatically.

cars are not only made, but also driven for many years, so post-maintenance is very important. insurance companies and consumers do not want new energy vehicles to become expensive, disposable toys that cannot be repaired. instead, they want them to be good tools and partners that are comfortable to drive and cheap to repair. the pressure is on car companies, let's see what they will do.