EV Insurance cost vs paying for gas?

[VeeDaub]

When I drive too and from work I get pretty bad mileage as the car never heats up so I've always been considering an EV for my daily comute and a gasser for weekend fun with friends but which one is more cost effective?

Would I be spending more money every week on gas or would insuring an EV cost more per month?

I average about 16-18 US MPG duing my dail commute every week, and about 20-22 US MPG on my longer weekend driving adventures because the car actually gets to temperature. I put about 30 liters in a week, it's roughly $1.35 a liter, some times lower, some times higher but that's about average. Rounding off, I would say I'm spending about $40 a week on average for just gas, which is about $1,920.

Taking some after work driving into the math to pick up geroceries and stuff, say it's about $2,000 a year on gas costs, NOT including weekends, that's only during a 5 day working period every week for a year.

How much is the average insruance rate for EV's? Is it less then $2,000 a year?
My insurance is $6,600 a year for my 1989 GLI which is why I'm driving my parents 1997 Jetta 2.0 as a secondary driver

What are the average cost for an EV based on A to B commuter use in Ontario Canada? I can't find anything on getting a quote for an EV.

Thanks for any information to help me with this, I would really like to know how much of a difference it is.

[HydroJim]

I don't see why insurance costs for an EV would be any greater, but I have no experience with this. Maybe someone else one the forum will be able to enlighten both of us.

[VeeDaub]

Well I ask because I've actually heard that EV's are cheaper to insure because of Canada's EcoSolutions where they give lots of discounts or even pay you for having eco products. They give you money off on house insurance if you renovate using recycled materials because it costs more to buy it, but you're creating less waste so they give you grants based on how eco friendly you are. They also pay the public for over flow of solar energy systems to feed directly back to the city and I just got ear that they do this kind of thing for EV's but since my insurance is $6,600 a year and my fuel cost is $2,000 a year, would an EV yearly insurance cost be cheaper then my yearly fuel cost?

I also can't find anything on EV insurance in Canada or anything regarding Canada's EcoSolutions discounts on buying or converting to an EV.

[GRU]

i hope you're not actually paying 6600 per year for insurance only? I also live in Ontario and i know our insurance is ridiculous but that's 6 times higher than what i pay

[HydroJim]

damn, you must have coverage where they pay YOU to get into an accident!

[Frank Lee]

Not answering OP's question but either in the meantime or as a permanent solution, add/use block heater, grille block, and engine bay blanket on that thing. And if he's as close as it sounds, walking, bicycling, and/or scootering would work too.

Yeah I'm in northern MN and bike all winter so don't say it's not possible.

[MetroMPG]

There aren't any special deals that I know of for insuring EV's in Canada. Definitely nothing that's government sponsored.

Insurance for the ForkenSwift (electric converted Metro) is basically the same as for the gasoline Firefly (same as the Metro). I only get 3rd party liability coverage (no coverage on the vehicle itself), and it's about $600 for a full year for either car.

Agreed: $6k for insurance is nuts. I'd be shopping around for both a different vehicle (if that's why it's so high) & different insurance company. Or raise your deductibles/cut your optional coverage.

[Ryland]

My insurance assumes that I can only drive one car at a time so they give me a discount for a 2nd vehicle, $144 per year to insure my electric car and around $360 to insure my gasoline car.
Driving short trips tends to cause twice as much wear as highway miles do, so your per mile cost on your gasoline car will drop as well.

[jakobnev]

You shouldn't be getting 17mpg from a 22(?)km trip (i get twice that from driving half that distance).

There is a lot of improvement to be made here without a second car.

[VeeDaub]

I ride a 700c Bicycle so I'm not taking that out on icy roads, plus with the way people drive in this town.. Haha

My car is also extremely rare for a Volkswagen, it was never sold in Canada so I imported mine from Florida making this one of or the only one in Canada, only 1500 produced for only one year with a special colour matched Recaro interior and it's quite rare to even find one which is why my insurance is so high.

The 2.Slow has duct tape covering most of the front of the car as an air dam but it still only heats up after longer drives. I don't have a driveway, I'm not zoned for a driveway or garage, and my car constantly gets broken into due to the "quality" of my neighborhood and lack of police concern (about 45 minutes to an hour responce time) so running an extension cord out to the road is just asking for a disaster.

The forken swift thread is how I found this site which is also what got me thinking electric :P

So should I be looking for EV insurance companies or just get any car that has cheap insurance and convert it?