Claims frequency for repairable battery electric vehicles jumped 45 percent in the U.S. and 39 percent in Canada year-over-year while increasing more gradually for hybrids, a new report by Mitchell, an Enlyte company and technology and information provider for the property/casualty (P/C) claims and collision repair industries.

The “Q2 2024 Plugged-In: EV Collision Insights” report includes the latest U.S. and Canadian claims data on battery electric vehicles (BEVs), mild hybrid electric vehicles (MHEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)—highlighting how differences in their complexity and construction affect claim costs and repair operations.

“Although BEV sales have slowed in 2024, sales of mild and plug-in hybrid automobiles remain strong,” said Ryan Mandell, Mitchell’s director of claims performance. “Like BEVs, these vehicles can be costlier to repair after a collision when compared to their internal combustion engine, or ICE, counterparts. However, with both an ICE and small electric battery, mild hybrids are remarkably similar to gasoline-only powered automobiles when it comes to claims severity.”

In Q2 2024, average claims severity for repairable MHEVs was $4,726 in the U.S. and $5,302 in Canada, the analysis showed.

For vehicles with an ICE, it was $4,806 in the U.S. and $4,958 in Canada, a difference of $80 and $344, respectively.

“Since PHEVs rely on a larger, high-voltage battery in addition to a secondary ICE, their average severity is more closely aligned to BEVs at $5,059 versus $5,753 in the U.S. and $5,665 versus $6,534 in Canada,” the report stated.

The total loss frequency of BEVs and 2021 and newer gasoline-powered vehicles—which are comparable in their complexity and cost to repair—remains similar at 9.16 percent for BEVs in the U.S. versus 9.45 percent for ICE automobiles and 7.24 percent versus 8.52 percent respectively in Canada, according to the report.

BEV collision-damage estimates have a higher average number of mechanical labor hours than ICE appraisals (5.21 percent compared to 8.18 percent), the report explained that they are less likely to include frame labor. Frame labor is added when technicians use a hydraulic frame machine to straighten both full ladder frame components and unibody structures. The lack of this labor type on BEV estimates could mean that their design is more effective at preventing crash energy from damaging the vehicle’s structural components.

The Mitchell analysis showed that OEM parts continue to be used more frequently in the repair of BEVs, with 89 percent of the parts dollars on estimates for repairable BEVs being OEM parts as compared to 65 percent for ICE automobiles.