1.0 litre Yaris is insurance group 5
Dynamique Intense Zoe insurance group 16, and has the complication of the hired battery. The acceleration of the Zoe is greater than the Yaris, both have a top speed above the speed limit so not really a factor

Have you looked at black box insurance? It seems to be the way most new drivers start.

 

Unfortunately I think it’s almost impossible. I’m 19 and have almost ordered a Zoe and a Leaf and had to put both cars to bed for the foreseeable as it’s just too expensive, even with a black box.

I have a Years no claims plus a black box with constant ‘high scores’ yet my company still wanted to charge me £1200 on top of my £1100 policy to change my car for a Zoe Dynamique Nav. I’m going to have to wait until October which will be when I have 2 years no claims to even think about hunting for an electric car again.

To put it in to perspective, I renewed my current car, a 1.2 90hp Polo, for £700 last October.

 

It is a real issue this one. My son is currently insured on a Mini One with Insurethebox, one of the black box insurers aimed at young drivers and even with a years accident free history, they won't even quote him on a Zoe.

If you're ordering a new car @Zootee will the manufacturers insure you? They often offer their own insurance with new cars..

 

It is a real issue this one. My son is currently insured on a Mini One with Insurethebox, one of the black box insurers aimed at young drivers and even with a years accident free history, they won't even quote him on a Zoe.

If you're ordering a new car @Zootee will the manufacturers insure you? They often offer their own insurance with new cars..

I've checked and triple checked any possibilities as I'm almost desperate to go electric myself. I think most manufacturers state you have to be minimum age 21 and any free insurance offers are usually on ICE cars such as the Seat Ibiza, VW Polo, Renault Clio etc. If Renault did similar on the Zoe, combined with attractive PCP offers at the moment I'd have snapped their arms off!

 

This has just appeared on the forum @Zootee.. @Lilies

SpeakEV – club-discounted insurance scheme with Adrian Flux – Tel: 08

 

I can't understand this, really.
The potential to speed is much greater in an ICE car, for starters.
Even the slowest Mini One has a top speed of 116mph, a Zoe can only do 83mph.
A young driver also has more opportunity to do more miles in a given amount of time in an ICE car, thereby increasing his risk of having an accident.
ICE car = 350 miles non-stop, 5 minute refill and another 350 miles.
Zoe = 70 miles and a long stop....

 

I dont believe its about speed its about propensity to have an accident and cost of repair.

Speed is only a minor part of it. Much greater acceleration in a 30mph zone is more likely to cause an accident than driving at 116 mph on a motorway. And regards more miles driven, motorways are statistically very safe its all about minor roads and the miles driven on those woudl be equivalent since other factors limit speed.

Some electric cars also seem to be very expensive to repair, witness the other thread about a £700+ headlight replacement on Leaf24. So a little shunt in a Leaf that breaks a headlight might cost 5x what it would cost in a Yaris. And you dont get many third parties that will work on BEV cars at the moment so its likely a main dealer even for something purely bodywork related.

These facts shoudl all work out in statistics, and even if propensity to have an accident turns out to be identical, if it costs £1000 for the average Yaris repair after an accident and £5,000 for a Leaf or Zoe, the insurance rate will still be higher.

 

I dont believe its about speed its about propensity to have an accident and cost of repair.

Speed is only a minor part of it. Much greater acceleration in a 30mph zone is more likely to cause an accident than driving at 116 mph on a motorway. .

Greater acceleration is a myth.
They're absolutely no faster than a properly launched ICE car (and not very fancy ones at that)
An EV is easier launched, but that doesn't mean they're faster.
I've had enough traffic light GPs with other cars to realise my Leaf isn't faster at all, just easier.
I also didn't mention motorways when talking about driving more.
When I was young, we'd literally just 'drive around' until petrol ran out and we'd do it all again.
Far less easy in an EV, so your 'time on the road' is less.

 

It still would be worth speaking to Adrian Flux as they're offering a discount to forum members and claim to cover unusual risks..

 

try insuring a group 16 ICE car at that age... You'll find it similarly difficult/expensive.

The biggest engine'd clio, (barring the renaultsport) is only group 14.

The LEAFs are up into the 20s

 

Just shows how ludicrous the insurance group scheme is - my 47kW Peugeot Ion with an 80mph top speed is in group 28 apparently.

Not much less than my 140kW 3 litre petrol V6 Xantia with a top speed of 140mph which is "only" in group 32...

And despite this my Xantia is cheaper to insure than the Ion! (presumably because it is a lot older ?)

I think insurance companies are just "scared" of EV's, full stop, and charge an ignorance premium...

 

the group itself is set based on repair costs and value (when new), but even within a group theres no guarantee a lower group will be cheaper.

A mate of mine had some issues some years ago (got banned) and when he got his licence back was trying to find something he could insure but was actually a nice car. What he discovered were more expensive cars he couldnt afford were cheap to insure, and cheap ones he could afford to buy, were expensive. He ended up with a '96 1.2 corsa, but it would have been cheaper for him to insure a 2003 Volvo C70 T5. There was even the ludicrous situation that a 2005 clio was a few hundred quid cheaper to insure than a 2000 clio of the same spec!

I presume it had less to do with the value, and more to do with the fact that statistically "risky drivers crash lots of cheap crappy cars". And so the combination of recent ban + cheap crappy car made the premium skyrocket. Replace the car with one that risky people dont seem to crash, like a Volvo T5, and it gets magically cheaper.

 

He ended up with a '96 1.2 corsa, but it would have been cheaper for him to insure a 2003 Volvo C70 T5. There was even the ludicrous situation that a 2005 clio was a few hundred quid cheaper to insure than a 2000 clio of the same spec!

I presume it had less to do with the value, and more to do with the fact that statistically "risky drivers crash lots of cheap crappy cars". .

I'd say 'nickability' is the issue here.
A 1996 1.2 Corsa will be easier to nick than a 2003 T5 Volvo.
A 2000 Clio will also be easier to nick than a 2005 one.

 

I agree. As I said above, I can't get a quote for my son on the Zoe, but can get a (albeit ridiculous!) quote for him to drive my 2.5L V6 MG ZT-T. That's a much higher insurance group than Zoe. I think they're scared of high cost of battery damage and replacement with young drivers much more likely to have a knock, the chances are the damage will be expensive to repair.

 

perhaps, but most cars these days are nicked with keys anyway as anything from late 90's onwards have factory immobilisers. Maybe the '96 corsa would have had some theft loading, but realistically, who nicks one of those in the first place? The immobilisers all but completely stopped the young lads joyriding type thefts. Modern day cars are stolen to order, either for parts, or as getaway cars for robberies etc, in which case you dont want a 1.2 corsa

Its all driven by complex statistical models, and particular cars can get a "bad rep". Volvos are traditionally driven by older folk and seen as a bit boring and sedate, so likely the average risk for that model ends up much lower than a corsa or clio.

Infact the same thing is seen with my current ICE, a 2000 model Audi A4. Mines a 1.8T petrol sport model with quattro. Its cheaper to insure an S4 of the same year, despite being 3 times as valuable, and a LOT faster with nearly 100hp more. They both have the same immobiliser system, and the S4 is a far more desirable car to steal. It makes no logical sense, but the statistics clearly show the 1.8T quattro is more risky than the S4, and thus its charged accordingly.

 

Modern day cars are stolen to order, either for parts, or as getaway cars for robberies etc, in which case you dont want a 1.2 corsa

.

We don't get a lot of car thefts in Aberdeen, but the ones I do see on social media are all joyride thefts.
The cars are found at some point, sometimes torched but sometimes completely fine.
Evidently, 'yoots' are able to bypass security systems just to drive around aimlessly.

 

Always try adding parents/2 older drivers, that can bring down the price considerably.
And try go compare/moneysupermarket etc etc

 

Always try adding parents/2 older drivers, that can bring down the price considerably.

Adding older drivers, but with the younger driver still as the main driver?
The other way around (making on it's a parent as the main driver and the kid as an additional driver) is called 'fronting'.
It's illegal and insurance companies are very wise to it.

 

yeh keep the young driver as the main driver, but add the older folk as second/third drivers.

It works exceptionally well with certain insurers, so well infact that i suspect they've artificially weighted second/third drivers to try and stop fronting, but in the process the same system is massively reducing premiums when you put low risk drivers in those positions. With other insurers it will do basically nothing.

 

Thanks. I had been keeping my other half off the quotes as she has had 2 no fault accidents, thinking that would keep the premium down. For ICE insurance adding her has reduced the premium by £150.

Sadly for a Zoe it adds £10.

I would love to see the logical behind the quote engines insurers use.

Thanks for everyone's comments. I guess by the lack of evidence of young Zoe drivers that no insurer or broker goes close to a sensible premium. Incidentally Direct Line were far and away the cheapest for ICE, but they don't insure EV's yet.

Collingwood insure just about anything for a learner including a Zoe for £380 to £600 for the higher groups but won't insure the car after the learner passes. If you drag out the learning for 10 months they will give you a letter saying you have a 1 yr no claims bonus. They also refund the unused premium when you pass.

Going with a temporary ICE for now and will look at swapping for a Zoe a month before every annual renewal. If the cost gap for the insurance becomes less than £500 then I will start Zoe shopping.

I think Renault are missing a trick here though. If they came up with a sensible insurance scheme for 18 yr olds I am sure the Zoe would become a top seller.

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I would love to see the logical behind the quote engines insurers use.

There truly is none.

The whole auto insurance industry is a scam. They just make figures up to suit themselves, as the know they're selling a product that is compulsory.

Many years ago when I worked in the London casino industry they loaded vehicle insurance on casino staff based on the fact that a decade or two earlier, in the swinging 60's, croupiers earned very good money (tips prior to the Gaming Act 1968), bought expensive sports cars, partied like crazy and smashed the things up left right and centre.
Reality of the job in the 1980's was nothing like that, yet you still got clobbered on your insurance.
Ah, but you work in licensed premises, was the excuse, despite the fact that alcohol was illegal in casino gaming rooms - they just made it up as they went along !
Oh, but you are on the road at a dodgy time of the night. Really ? Driving home at 0430 / 0500 ? The vast majority of drink drivers have been off the roads for hours by then, and the high risk rush hour is still a few hours away.

The industry should be made, by Law, to present accurate, annually updated figures that prove, and so justify, the premium they are charging. If they cannot prove it, they cannot charge it.

It is disgusting that the Government don't take over insuring third party liability, as they do successfully in some countries, for a fixed fee. Stipulation is that the person driving must hold a valid driving licence, nothing more.

Insurance companies would still have a part to play, and without doubt get their earn, by selling additional non-compulsory policies to cover fire, theft and damage to own vehicle.


Proof that in the UK it is all a scam is this :

In the US vehicle insurance is quite expensive, yet you still see youngsters driving round in big powerful muscle cars. 5 and 6 litre jobbies, not your little 1.2 stuff you see here. Somehow they are able to get cover. No way would you get away with driving uninsured for very long out there, with the number of Police cruisers constantly patrolling.

 

When DD1 passed her test, the insurance on our diesel Yaris went up by £75 mid-policy. We'd taken out insurance with Diamond (part of Admiral) as they were way, way cheaper than anyone else for both a learner and a newly-qualified driver. She was just a named driver. The following year the renewal price went up £100, which was a surprise. Checking on the price comparison websites, the cheapest was almost double what they were asking, so we renewed. With DD2, we insured her via Marmalade while she was learning, so she wasn't on the Diamond insurance. When she passed, we phoned up to put her on for the last 8 months of the policy, and they wanted £3000 to add her!

Around this time we also bought the Zoe, so we were looking to insure 2 ICEs and an EV with two existing policies, so we knew we needed one policy with zero no-claims. We called Admiral Multi-Car, as one ICE was already with them. We put DD1 as the main driver on a new policy for the Yaris, which was quite expensive, but not bad with zero no-cliams and still way cheaper than £3k! We insured the Zoe for SWMBO and me on an existing policy. The third car meant we got an extra percentage discount, so it only cost £50! And because Diamond were part of Admiral, they waived the cancellation fees too.

We should have asked how much it would have been to add the DDs, but it had already been a long phonecall...

 

Thanks for the responses. On Direct Line, I couldn't get a quote for a 17 or 18 yr old on a Zoe or Leaf. I therefore presumed they didn't insure them at all. I have managed to get them to quote for me and the other half on a Zoe, so thanks for the correction.



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My B250 is with Direct Line as well.