Electric Car Accident: What Insurers Often Don't Tell You
Liability rules are the same as for combustion vehicles. The places where insurers cut costs are not.
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Legal status: May 2026. Case law on electric vehicles is continuously developing.
Some clients come to the firm after an electric car accident expecting the process to work just like with a combustion vehicle — and are then surprised by the insurer's settlement approach. The battery was valued differently than expected. The diminution of value was suddenly lower than the expert report indicated. And there were unexpected disputes about the rental car.
Electric car accidents are settled according to the same liability principles as all other accidents. What differs are the technical characteristics of these vehicles – and the points where insurers regularly cut costs. Courts have decided some of these questions with clear results in the last two years.
Battery and total loss: the decisive ownership question
The high-voltage battery is the most expensive individual component of an electric car – and therefore the decisive factor in whether the insurer considers a repair economically viable or declares a total loss.
When the battery was purchased with the vehicle
If the battery belongs to the vehicle owner, it is part of the vehicle. Replacement value and residual value are calculated uniformly. Repair costs – including a necessary battery replacement – are measured against the 130-percent threshold of the replacement value.
When the battery is leased
With some earlier models – such as the Renault ZOE in certain configurations – the battery was not sold with the vehicle but leased separately. In this case, vehicle and battery are legally separate. There are then two injured parties, each with their own damage claims:
- The vehicle owner, whose replacement value only covers the vehicle without the battery
- The battery owner (manufacturer or financing company), who receives separate compensation for the battery value
The cost of removing the battery – around €900 in documented cases – is to be reimbursed by the opposing liability insurer.
Battery and comprehensive insurance
Comprehensive insurance under standard general motor vehicle conditions (AKB) generally also covers the vehicle battery, including a leased battery. This also applies in the case of total loss. An agreed deduction for wear can be applied to a destroyed battery. A state environmental bonus is not a standard market discount and does not reduce the compensation.
OLG Hamm, Urt. v. 10.04.2024 – 20 U 99/23 ( Volltext NRWE)
What is specifically covered under the individual policy depends on the wording of the insurance contract. AKB clause A.2.10 of standard forms extends coverage to electric vehicle batteries – whether it is included in your contract must be checked on a case-by-case basis.
State of Health and the pre-wear argument
Insurers occasionally argue with older vehicles that the battery was already in poor condition before the accident. The SOH value indicates what percentage of its original capacity the battery still has. The insurer must substantiate this claim specifically – a blanket reference to the vehicle's age is not sufficient. An expert report documenting the SOH value and the vehicle's fault logs provides a reliable basis.
Diminution of value: combustion engine formulas often don't fit
After an accident, a vehicle loses market value even after complete and professional repair. This 'diminution of value' is recognised as a damage position and claimable under § 249 BGB – regardless of whether the vehicle is actually sold (BGH, DAR 1967, 82).
The standard calculation models – including the BVSK method, the MFM method and the Halbgewachs approach – were developed for the used car market for conventional combustion vehicles. Whether they can be applied to electric vehicles without adjustment is questionable.
The standard models for calculating diminution of value were developed for conventional combustion vehicles. The market for used electric vehicles is smaller, and the scepticism of potential buyers towards accident-damaged electric cars is – at least currently – more pronounced than with combustion vehicles. The court therefore estimates the diminution of value of an electric car to be about 50 percent higher than the comparable diminution of value of a combustion vehicle.
LG Nürnberg-Fürth, Urt. v. 18.09.2024 – 8 O 4990/23, BeckRS 2024, 24175
This is currently the only published regional court ruling with this specific statement; there is no established line in case law yet. It shows, however, that courts are prepared to take the specific characteristics of the electric car market into account when estimating damages under § 287 ZPO. Anyone receiving a diminution of value from the insurer based on combustion engine formulas should not accept this without challenge.
Rental car and loss of use
Entitled to an electric replacement vehicle?
The right to a rental car after an accident that was not your fault also applies to electric cars. The standard is: an equivalent vehicle in the same class. Whether 'equivalent' for an electric car means only an electric replacement vehicle has to be accepted has not yet been decided by the highest courts. Legal literature maintains that insisting on an electric rental car does not constitute a breach of the duty to mitigate losses. If no comparable electric rental is available, a conventional vehicle will have to be used instead – any additional costs (such as fuel instead of electricity) should be documented and claimed as a damage item.
Longer downtime with total loss
Experts typically allow 14 days for vehicle replacement in total loss cases. For electric vehicles, the availability of comparable models in the regional market may be lower. If this is the case, the expert should explicitly document this in the report and set a correspondingly longer replacement period – this directly affects the period for which a rental car or loss of use compensation can be claimed.
Loss of use: what to do if the model isn't in the table?
The Sanden-Danner tables do not yet fully cover electric vehicles. In such cases, a vehicle with a comparable list price and comparable performance is used as a reference. The BGH clarified in 2005 that courts may use these tables but are not required to – they are an estimation aid, not a binding value (BGH, Urt. v. 25.01.2005 – VI ZR 112/04).
Workshop and experts: qualifications matter
Work on a vehicle's high-voltage system may only be carried out by appropriately qualified personnel for safety reasons. This has practical consequences: specialised high-voltage workshops are generally more expensive than general garages, and not every expert has the vehicle-specific diagnostic systems required for a complete assessment of the high-voltage system and battery.
The at-fault party bears the workshop risk
The person at fault generally bears the risk that the workshop commissioned by the injured party charges higher costs than objectively necessary – as long as the injured party properly commissioned the workshop on the basis of an expert report and there is no contributory fault. The same applies to excessive expert costs.
BGH, Urteile v. 16.01.2024 – VI ZR 253/22 und VI ZR 239/22; BGH, Urt. v. 15.04.2024 – VI ZR 198/23 (Pressemitteilung BGH)
In practice this means: if a high-voltage workshop charges higher hourly rates and the insurer cuts these, this does not necessarily have to be accepted. Whether and to what extent the reduction is justified can be examined on the basis of the BGH principles on workshop risk.
Vehicle data and evidence preservation
Modern electric vehicles store data on vehicle status and driving behaviour immediately before an accident via driver assistance systems and event data recorders (EDR) – including speed, braking interventions and the status of active assistance systems. This data can be significant in legal proceedings, for example on the question of whether an assistance system reacted incorrectly.
Vehicle manufacturers only retain raw data for limited periods. Anyone wishing to make claims after an electric car accident involving an assistance system should not hand the vehicle over to the manufacturer until the matter is clarified, and should not postpone data preservation.
Special case: technical failure of the assistance system
If a driver assistance system fails and this causes the accident, in addition to keeper liability under the StVG, product liability of the manufacturer may also apply – under the Product Liability Act (ProdHaftG) or under § 823 BGB. These claims depend heavily on the evidence, particularly on whether the vehicle data on system behaviour was preserved in time. In these cases we recommend seeking legal advice immediately.
Your electric car accident. Our commitment.
Insurers settle electric car claims on their own terms. Battery, diminution of value, rental car – every item is a potential reduction point. We know the case law and enforce what you are entitled to.
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