BATTERY STATUS
Canadian repairers are becoming more capable when it comes to complex EV repairs, according to the debut “Plugged-In: EV Collision Insights” report by Mitchell. The Canadian collision industry has seen EV repairable claims frequency rise to a rate of 2.26 percent in Q4 2022, along with the average percentage of EV parts repaired, which climbed from 11.05 percent to 12.16 percent quarter-over-quarter, demonstrating an improved capability on the part of repairers to fix the lighter weight materials commonly found on EVs. On a model-by-model basis, the Tesla Model 3 makes up 45 percent of the EV repair mix for Canadian collision shops, followed by the Model Y at 17.29 percent, the Nissan Leaf at 7.24 percent, the Hyundai Kona EV at 6.91 percent and the Chevrolet Bolt at 5.19 percent. Concerning repairable claims frequency in various North American EV markets, British Columbia leads the way with an average of 4.47 percent, followed by California with a rate of 3.37 percent and Quebec, which sits at 2.75 percent.
WHO PAYS FOR WHAT?
Of the more than 400 U.S. repair shops that responded to the annual “Who Pays for What?” survey from industry expert Mike Anderson, two out of five reported that they never bill insurers for safety inspections. Among those who do bill, 38 percent say that these charges are either “always” or “most of the time” paid out by one of the U.S.’s eight major insurers, while a nearly equal portion of respondents say they are only paid “some of the time.” Progressive and USAA were found to be the most reliable insurers, in terms of tendency to pay for safety inspections, followed by GEICO, Nationwide and State Farm. Concerning in-process scans, 36 percent of shops that bill for them say they “always” or “most of the time” receive payment. American insurance companies do appear to be mostly on board with pre and post-repair scans, however, with 88 percent of billing shops saying they are always or usually paid for the former, and 91 percent in the case of the latter.
