Mitchell: Claims Frequency of Battery Electric Vehicles up as Sales Face Tariff Threat

Claims frequency for repairable, collision-damaged battery electric vehicles in the first quarter rose to 3.12% in the U.S. and 4.48% in Canada, representing an increase of 31% in the U.S. and Canada over the same period last year, a new report on electric vehicle collisions shows.

The Plugged-In: EV Collision Insights report for the first quarter from Mitchell also examines how new U.S. tariffs threaten consumer adoption and sales of BEVs and why these vehicles are at a disadvantage compared to their internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts when it comes to import taxes.

BEVs continue to have the highest severity compared to plug-in hybrids, mild hybrids and ICE alternatives. The average severity for repairable BEVs in the first quarter was $5,927 in the U.S. and $7,026 in Canada, down 10% and 7% compared with Q4 2024, the report shows.

It also shows that nearly 11% of all BEVs were declared a total loss, down 1% from the previous quarter. That rate is the same as the total loss frequency for new ICE automobiles and 12% lower than for all ICE automobiles combined.

While BEVs are making up a larger portion of automobiles sold, with sales accounted for more than 9% of new vehicle sold in the U.S. and 10% of new vehicles sold in Canada in March, adoption of EVs “is now being threatened by tariffs and the anticipated impact to manufacturing costs and, ultimately, the MSRP of new BEVs as well as the supply of used BEVs,” the report states.

The report also shows that original manufacturing equipment parts are more frequently used in the repair of BEVs: In Q1, 88% of the parts dollars on estimates for repairable BEVs were for OEM parts compared with 64% for ICE automobiles.

Not surprisingly, North American markets with the highest number of collision claims for repairable BEVs were also those with the highest penetration of BEVs per capita, according to the report.

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