One of the goals set at COP26 was to accelerate the switch to electric vehicles, but the current rate of growth of EVs on our roads is barely a third of what it needs to be. This is despite a surge in sales during the pandemic, which saw registrations grow 41% during 2020 while the overall vehicle market fell.
According to Jonathan Hewett, Chief Executive of Thatcham Research, IEA data suggests EVs will represent just seven per cent of the global car parc by 2030. This is a long way shy of the 20% target of the Paris Agreement.
That means there needs to be a surge in EV registrations in the coming years, and Hewitt has urged the global automotive industry to act now to ensure there’s a strong and sustainable ecosystem in place to support it. That means planning at every stage, from product development to servicing and repair.
Hewitt said, “There will be a cost, which must be borne by all—but the cost of doing something now pales in comparison to the cost of not doing enough.”
He added that the role insurers must play in the electrification of the global fleet is critical.
He said, “Insurance premiums are based on complex algorithms and decades of experience. New technologies, however, mean new risks, which in turn can mean higher premiums. When it comes to EVs, the insurance industry has relatively little experience—and this underlines why we need to see insurance as a key stakeholder in the acceleration of electrification.
“The vehicle manufacturers also have very little experience with EVs. Today’s burgeoning EV market is made up of a growing range of increasingly exciting models featuring cutting edge technology. But the advantages of bringing vehicles to market at speed are lost if products are launched with haste.
“Product development must include design for repair, with repair technicians appropriately trained and equipped not only in the vehicle manufacturers’ own networks but also in the independent repair sector.”
Hewitt believes this is an ideal opportunity to reshape the repair sector, but to create a claims journey that is efficient, economical and safe will require all stakeholders to work together.
He said, “The goal should be an EV customer experience that equals or betters the expectations shaped by the long-established combustion engine ecosystem—but this can only be achieved through collaboration between vehicle manufacturers, the independent repair sector, and the insurers.’
