High electric car repair costs – are they really such a burden?

Dekra investigation
Fear of high repair costs – are electric cars really such a burden?

According to a Dekra study, every second driver fears horrendous workshop bills for electric cars. Is that really a problem?

According to Dekra, the majority of German drivers are “convinced that maintenance and repair work on electric vehicles is more expensive than on combustion engine cars.” According to the testing company, this is the result of a study conducted in June 2024 among a total of 1,000 car owners. In fact, the rumor persists that repairing electric cars is much more expensive than those with combustion engines – and that purchasing one will therefore eventually backfire.

The Dekra inspectors have investigated this bad reputation and evaluated more than 200,000 damage reports. First of all, the result plays into the hands of critics of electric cars, because it says that the repair costs for electric cars “are actually somewhat higher on average than for combustion engine vehicles”. However, there is a big but.

“By no means differences of 30 or 40 percent”

Because, according to the examiners, the difference is “not as big as is sometimes claimed when you look more closely,” says Dekra. For Bernd Grüninger, Head of Assessments and member of the management board of Dekra Automobil GmbH, this is a comparison of apples and oranges anyway, he says.

Electric cars are much younger than the average combustion engine car, so the costs for any repairs are naturally higher. Sensors and driver assistance systems that are not found in older vehicles also mean higher workshop bills if something goes wrong.

mobility
Only one model is “very good”: These are the best electric cars according to ADAC

27.08.2024

However, after evaluating the reports, the conclusion was that costs were still only about ten percent higher, according to the results. “It's not about differences of 30 or 40 percent, which are also a recurring theme in the automotive industry,” Grüninger explains.

The difference is due to “several factors,” writes the testing company. The workshop staff who actually have to work on the vehicles are usually more highly qualified, and some jobs require a certain amount of preparation, such as switching off the vehicle's power supply. This is a time expenditure that is ultimately reflected in the calculated working hours.

Long warranty on electric cars

However, the experts' study mentions that there is of course a huge difference when high-voltage components are defective, such as the drive battery. According to Dekra, this has “serious effects on the cost of repairs”.

However, this can also be put into perspective. If the engine of a combustion engine bursts, the repair costs are also considerably higher than if a spark plug is defective. However, how often such a worst-case scenario occurs is another matter.

“China Tesla”
XPeng P7 in the test: No other electric car has received so much praise

27.07.2024

In addition, most electric car manufacturers offer generous guarantees on the batteries. The usual guarantee is eight years or 160,000 kilometers. Lexus even offers ten years or one million kilometers.

In addition, many manufacturers build their batteries in such a way that individual segments can be replaced. A complete battery replacement is therefore unusual – with the exception of Tesla. Here, some batteries (the newer “4680 cells”) are used up for reasons of body rigidity, so that replacing individual modules is no longer possible. But there is a solution for this too: either you turn to experts who will still carry out the complicated procedure, or you opt for a remanufactured battery, which is less expensive.