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EV Insurance·November 09, 2026·@mpelletier_

Insurance vs fuel savings

Wanted to get some real world opinions on insurance cost vs fuel savings with an EV, since I think people underestimate the insurance side of it. I've been on both sides of it now so figured I'd share what I ran into and see how others have balanced it out. My previous EV got totaled after a break-in. Some assholes broke into it while I was out late at a bar, stole the back seat and appeared to be trying to steal the traction battery, ripped the interior apart and left all the wires exposed. They never got the battery out, but the insurance company said it had to be replaced anyway for liability reasons since it's high voltage. The battery was quoted at $10k and that, added onto all the other damage, was the main reason it got totaled. I bought that car cash so no loan, which at least made the claim process smoother. But it really opened my eyes to how insurers look at the high voltage battery. To them it's a $10k part that people apparently want to steal, and I'd bet that's baked into the premiums on a lot of EVs, especially models that get flagged as high theft. The other half is the fuel savings, and in my case that was thinner than people assume. Where I live electric rates are high, so when I was shopping after the total I looked at used BEVs and the ones I liked were all at least $10k more than the PHEV options, and I wouldn't have saved much if anything on fuel. That's why I ended up in a 2019 Honda Clarity PHEV. Very happy with it so far, but it got me thinking about the whole equation for anyone considering a full EV, especially if you don't drive a lot of miles a year. If your premium goes up a few hundred a year AND your electricity isn't cheap, the savings can get eaten up pretty quick. So does anyone have real experience with how this actually shakes out? A few things I'm curious about: - Did your premium jump a lot going from a gas or hybrid car to a BEV, and was it the EV part itself or the specific model (theft rating etc.)? - Has anyone been offered a discount or had the gap shrink after adding a GPS tracker or something similar? - For those who don't drive much, did the fuel savings ever actually cover the extra insurance? - Anyone find that a PHEV lands in a sweet spot on insurance vs a full BEV? Also if you've shopped around between companies, did the quotes vary much for the same car? I'd guess it's very individual but would like to hear what people are seeing.

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48 ANSWERS

@tomlinson_dNovember 09, 2026

when i switched to mine the app took my old car ins for proof, so who knows what they actually had on file for the new car. might be worth making sure whatever quote you go with is really rated on the bZ and not just carried over

↳@rprunerNovember 09, 2026

Did you have to give them an exact delivery date up front? I'm doing the same swap on State Farm and they told me flat out they don't do a grace period. Tesla won't schedule pickup until they see proof of insurance for the plates, and the app wants the VIN on it.

@carl_mercadoNovember 09, 2026

Going through an agent made that easy for me when I swapped my gas car for a Tesla. I told them when I wanted the old car dropped and the new one added, did it about 2 weeks before delivery, and the card came in the mail a few days before the car showed up. So the policy was on the actual vehicle before I ever drove it.

@lmoncriefNovember 09, 2026

Not sure if it's a state thing, but every time I buy a car I just show the dealer my current State Farm insurance. I get a 14 day grace period on the new car. Then I call my agent, cancel the old one, and they pro rate and refund the rest. Might be worth asking your agent directly, since what you were told may not be the whole story.

@mgaines_November 09, 2026

Same thing happened to me going from a 2018 Fusion to a Model Y in Florida. My renewal went from $960 to $1965 on the same coverage, so I know that sting. Since the other quote didn't need a tracker, I'd definitely push Co-op on why it's flagged. I'm looking at switching insurers over mine too.

@lgutierrez_17November 09, 2026

Ha, same boat. Just moved from State Farm to AAA because State Farm kept raising me, then got a Mach-E quote from AAA and it was about $1800 more than I pay now on my Cherokee, same coverage. Collision was where most of it jumped. SoCal doesn't help, but I wonder if the other quote for the bZ not needing a tracker means it's just how each company rates repair costs.

@mpatterson_08November 09, 2026

Mine went the other way. When I had a Model Y Performance (Feb 2022 to March 2024) it was cheaper to insure than the 2016 QX70 I had before it. Now my 2024 RDX costs more to insure than the Tesla did. So I'd agree it's more the specific model and company than EV vs not.

@jwescott_November 09, 2026

Same here, mine went up $30/month going from my 2011 Volvo to a new Model Y Long Range AWD, which wasn't too bad. I'm with USAA. Varies so much person to person depending on coverage, so I'd agree it's the specific company and model more than EV vs not.

@hank_loomisNovember 09, 2026

Same for me, mine got cheaper coming from an F-150 that was worth about the same as my Tesla. So I'd agree it's more the specific model and company than EV vs not.

@nbrandt_44November 09, 2026

Same for us. We traded a nine-year-old gas car for an Ioniq 5 and our insurance has gone down twice since, not by a lot, but it's still a decrease on a much more expensive car. So I'd agree it's the model and the company more than EV vs not.

@rjessop_41November 09, 2026

Budgeting for out of warranty is fair, but accidents are the other battery cost people forget. My kid clipped some bricks at maybe 10mph and we've been told the battery needs replacing. Still waiting on the estimate before I call the insurer, so no idea yet how it plays out.

@dlevesque_November 09, 2026

The battery cost versus car value thing is real. My 2018 Leaf just got a quote of $4.4k for a replacement battery, about $5k with the other work, and the car's probably only worth around $5k. So it's right at the line where fixing it barely makes sense. I'd guess an insurer looking at damage to a pack like that on an older car is doing the same math, which is probably why a small bump can total one.

↳@kmaddox_73November 09, 2026

Same line of thinking with my 2018 Leaf, 49k miles. Carvana offered me $6,500 before I found out my battery issue wasn't the 12V like I assumed. The real repair is $5k to $9k with a 7 week to 6 month wait on parts. So the battery cost can easily eat most of what the car is worth, and I'd guess that's the math insurers run too.

@stan_wirthNovember 09, 2026

Curious about this too. With my wife's 2021 Model 3 I only go by the range, which is still around 80% after 230k miles. Never had anyone pull an actual health number. The only pack quote I've gotten was over $14k, and that's what keeps me from dropping comprehensive to save $200 a year.

@lpeabody_44November 09, 2026

That battery risk is basically how I think about it too. I've had mine about 5 years, low mileage, and the battery got replaced under warranty 2 years ago. Ballpark replacement is around $15k, so extended coverage is really just insuring against the pack dying after the warranty is up. The other stuff it covers isn't worth the price to me. I've spent under $600 on service in 5 years, almost all tires.

@rcutler_71November 09, 2026

Mine went at 4 years and 67k miles, so it doesn't take huge mileage. It also wasn't the cells that failed, just the pack. Batteries don't really fail, packs do, and it can be for dumb reasons. I still self-insure it. It's cheaper over time as long as you can eat the hit if it happens.

@gbarrow_November 09, 2026

Packs vs cells is a good point. Mine's the opposite problem though, nothing wore out. A piece of debris from an oversized tractor that clipped an overpass in downtown Chicago went about half an inch into the pack, and Progressive's adjuster says the battery alone costs more than the car, so it's totaled. Car is only a few months old. Self-insuring doesn't help when the insurer gets to decide a pack is the whole car. Did yours get a new pack or did they try to repair it?

@nhollisterNovember 09, 2026

Same boat here, nothing wore out. I drove over freshly poured concrete in a construction zone at about 15 mph and the mix splashed up into the undercarriage. The car had only about 7,000 miles on it and it was declared a total loss. It still drove completely normally, which is why the verdict surprised me. So yeah, self-insuring the pack doesn't help when the insurer decides the damage is the whole car.

@cmorrow_19November 09, 2026

Can't speak to the valuation side, but on the pack vs undercarriage question, mine was the dealer who made the call, not the insurer. They've had my 2022 Ioniq 5 most of the summer and now say a 0.5cm dent in the underbody shield destroyed the battery. Then insurance called with $59k to repair. I paid $55k for it 3 years ago, so that number makes no sense to me. I still haven't gotten a straight answer on what they actually tested to say the pack is dead, just the dent and the quote.

@dave_ostrowNovember 09, 2026

Going back to the original question, my Tesla costs exactly the same to insure as the Prius it replaced. There are a lot of factors in a quote, so I wouldn't pin the jump on the EV part. From what the OP described, the bZ theft flag sounds like the bigger piece.

@sgreaves_71November 09, 2026

Opposite for me. I looked at adding a 2021 Model S to our group policy and the quote was way more than what we pay on our two gas cars, so I skipped it. Clean record and everything. Probably depends a lot on the company, but at 10k km a year I'd have a hard time justifying the extra insurance on fuel savings alone.

@mgentile_81November 09, 2026

Yeah my Model 3 went from $684 per 6 months on my old Clarity to $1,245 with GEICO, and that was the cheapest of everything I called. Progressive wouldn't even quote a Tesla. Kind of regret it honestly, I'm trying to sell mine.

@nstroud_November 09, 2026

Same here, mine went up too. Went from around $100/month to $159 after I got my Niro EV. Not as bad as your jump but I definitely noticed it.

@wbarrett_14November 09, 2026

Mine jumped a lot more than that. Old Escape was around $350 per six months, and the bill for my '24 Lightning Lariat came in at about $1K per six months. No accidents or fines in 10 years. I had my agent play with the deductibles and I'm still comparing quotes, but my current company is the cheapest so far.

@kcarmody_71November 09, 2026

Ouch, that Lightning jump is rough. I've got an R1S plus a Z4 on one policy and EVs cost an arm and a leg for me too. I called around to about 10 companies and ended up at Liberty Mutual, around $210/month for both. Costco Connect was out because of a recent claim. Travelers was cheap for the first 6 months, then jumped about 50% at renewal, so I'd watch for that.

@tcorlissNovember 09, 2026

Mine went the other way. I called my insurance about a BMW I4 40 and they quoted the same as the 328i convertible I sold. I'm in AZ. So it really does seem to be the specific model and company more than EV vs not.

@jbeckwith_November 09, 2026

Mine went up a bit too, I'm on State Farm at 165 a month and that's more than the gas car was. Still came out ahead for me though, the gas savings more than cover it.

@frank_elleryNovember 09, 2026

Mine went up too when I traded a 10 year old Camry for a Bolt EUV. About $161 more for the rest of that policy term, which was fine with us. Progressive was the insurer.

@dloomis_74November 09, 2026

Camry to a Bolt Premiere about 4 years ago for me, and the premium dropped around $60 a year. The Bolt was a cheap car, so maybe that's why. With solar at home my fuel bill is basically nothing, so insurance was never the part that mattered much to me.

@kvoight_22November 09, 2026

Went from a 24 Golf R to a M3P and my insurance only went up $6 a month. Figured a Tesla would be way worse, so that surprised me.

@lbraun_58November 09, 2026

Wisconsin here, State Farm. Our 24 EV6 isn't much more to insure than the Sorento it replaced was when we first got it. Every vehicle we've owned has gotten cheaper to insure each year, so I expect the EV6 to do the same.

@wteller_67November 09, 2026

Same for us. We went from a crew cab Silverado to a Blazer EV and I don't think our insurance went up at all. I'd guess your state plays a big part in it. Also the BZ vs CR-V isn't really apples to apples on price, so the theft flag is probably the bigger piece like others said.

@dcarlin_62November 09, 2026

Not Progressive, but I went from a V6 Mustang to a Mach-E and my rate actually dipped a bit. I just plugged the same insurance number into all my cost comparisons after that.

@rcheever_November 09, 2026

Not Progressive for me, but I've got a Maverick and a Bolt on the same policy and the Bolt is the cheaper one. Maverick is about 110 and the Bolt around 90. Never expected that either.

@tmarlow_82November 09, 2026

Not Progressive, but Subaru to a Hyundai EV for me and my insurance is about 2x what it was. Same coverage, so I figure it's where I live more than the car. Might be worth asking whoever you call whether your zip is what's driving it.

↳@rkessler_62November 09, 2026

Glad you're getting different numbers from different places. When I went from a 2019 CX-5 to a 2024 ID.4, which was worth about double, my insurance went down. I didn't expect that either. I'd keep calling around, since it really seems to depend on the company and the model.

@gdenholmNovember 09, 2026

Zip code seems to matter a lot. I'm in the Philly suburbs and got a quote on a 2021 Bolt over $2500/yr, when my Prius C is only about $1000. I ended up losing the car while I was still deciding if I could swallow that. Wasn't expecting it to be that much higher.

@jpaulk_77November 09, 2026

My insurance went down switching too. Which is wild because this thing is WAY faster than the ICE car it replaced. Seems like it really is the model and company more than the EV part, so I'd keep calling around.

@lbrennan_58November 09, 2026

Progressive here and mine dropped about $60 a term going from my old Chrysler 200 to a Mach-E GT. Still kind of funny to me given how much quicker it is.

@dale_wexfordNovember 09, 2026

Mine dropped too. Had two 2022 Explorer Limiteds and swapped one for a Mach-E, and the premium went down about $20 a month. Never looked into insurance before buying, so I was bracing for the opposite.

@mgraziano_November 09, 2026

Not about the premium jump itself, but the battery-cost points higher up are what I've been thinking about. My 2022 Model 3 dual motor battery died at 198,444 km, long out of warranty, and the quote for a remanufactured pack is $14,000. I'm also debating dropping comprehensive at renewal to save about $200 a year, but next to a bill like that the saving looks pretty small. For the OP, at 10k km a year the battery is probably the bigger long-term cost to think about than the insurance gap.

@rob_teasdaleNovember 09, 2026

My numbers from Ontario, east of the GTA, clean record, if they help. I called my insurer about something unrelated (not a claim) and asked for EV quotes while I was on the line. My 2015 Sonata is $1608/yr. A 2024 Model Y Standard Range came in at $2197, an Equinox EV RS at $1994, a Blazer EV RS at $2602 and a Mach-E Premium AWD at $2892. So the same driver and coverage ranged from about $400 to $1300 more, depending on the model. That's why I'd agree with the people saying it's the model more than the EV part. OP, I'd get a quote on the exact trim you want.

@dstavros_November 09, 2026

I'm dealing with this exact thing right now with State Farm in Brooklyn. My agent said she's only seen one Tesla where Tesla let the plates transfer, and otherwise they enforce new plates. It matters a lot for the price. Moving my old plates drops my sold car and adds the Tesla to the old policy, about $100/month more. New plates makes it a new policy, about $300/month more. My plan is to call Tesla and push for the old plate transfer. Did the State Farm person tell you whether that's possible, or is it just on Tesla's end?

@dev_halloranNovember 09, 2026

Wait, how did you end up figuring out it was the battery and not the 12V? Did the dealer scan it or did you have to push for that? I had the dealer pull a state of health number off their GDS2 tool on my used Bolt EUV (said 97%) and now I'm wondering what else that tool would've caught.

@wtrask_November 09, 2026

That's what worries me about the warranty side. My luck would be degrading it just slightly above the replacement threshold, so it's not covered and the car's pretty much trash anyway. Only planning to keep mine about 2 years, then trade it back to the dealer and go back to gas.

@jsiegel_58November 09, 2026

Did the insurer actually say it was the pack they were worried about, or was it just the undercarriage in general? Concrete getting up in there sounds nasty, but it still driving normally is what gets me. My ID.4 is worth about $22K now and the last time I looked a replacement pack was around $15K, so if an adjuster just says they can't vouch for the battery's safety, I figure I'm close to the line even with fairly modest body damage. With 7,000 miles on yours the car should've been worth way more than that, so I'm curious what number they used.

@tcolburnNovember 10, 2026

Same thing happened to me, except mine was a raccoon. Hit a fat one and the insurer totaled the car out over it. I ended up buying it back from them and I'm driving it now with the payout in the bank. If you're near the line like that, it might be worth asking if they'd let you keep it.

@gmadduxNovember 09, 2026

Anyone with Progressive specifically? I'm about to lock down a '25 Mach-E Premium and haven't called them yet to tell them I'm coming off a gas car. Did your rate change the moment you added it, or only at renewal?