While insurance rates for electric vehicles remain high, agents say they’re stabilizing.  

Depending on the carrier, insurance for electric vehicles is at least 15 percent higher than gas vehicles. People can pay as low as $50 a month in insurance for a gas vehicle versus over $100 a month for an electric vehicle. 

Patrick Bissell, an agent for AAA Hoosier in Indianapolis, said insurance rates for electric vehicles are high because the car parts are more expensive and harder to find. There’s also a shortage of facilities that can do the specialized work. 

“The parts are different, so the parts are harder to get, the parts are more expensive,” he said, “and (there are) more high-tech cameras and sensors and calibration of parts and things like that, plus the batteries are also very expensive.” 

Depending on the model, replacing a battery for an electric vehicle can range from $5,000 to $16,000. Repairs can also take longer because technicians need advanced training and specific tools; this also contributes to more costly insurance rates.  

Rates are also set based on long-term data that assesses risk. Because electric vehicles are fairly new to the market, there’s a lack of historical data, leading insurers to be more cautious and potentially set higher rates to cover maintenance trends, battery lifespan and risks related to electric vehicle technology. 

But Bissell says rates are finally starting to stabilize. 

“They were rising over the last few years, and I think that we're in the time period where it's starting to stabilize, and that there are more people that are able to work on those vehicles, and the further down the road that we get, the better it's going to be,” he said. 

Bissell said he has worked with more people who have purchased electric vehicles in the last few years.