Imagine buying an electric vehicle (EV) for an amazingly low price, only to find that the insurance is incredibly expensive, or the insurer refuses to give you a quote. This is what is happening in the UK today.
EVs becoming more popular
In the UK, hundreds of thousands of drivers are turning from gasoline vehicles made in Europe, the US, Japan, and Korea, to Chinese EVs. These vehicles are significantly cheaper than their equivalents from other parts of the world.
With rising petroleum prices since the beginning of the Iran conflict, EVs have become an attractive option for car owners.
Even before the Iran conflict, Chinese EV sales in the UK had been increasing significantly—look at the figures below:
Sales of Chinese EVs in the UK + percentage new EV market share:
- 2025
132,000 units.
27.9% of market share.
- 2024
~61,000 units.
~12.7% of market share.
- 2023
~32,500 units.
~8.5% of market share.
- 2022
~20,000 units.
Less than 5% of market share.
Insuring Chinese EVs
According to a study carried out by Carwow, many British insurers are more reluctant to provide cover for some Chinese EVs or hybrid vehicles than cars from other parts of the world.
You can save money by purchasing Chinese cars. However, before opening your banking app, you need to add the cost of annual insurance premiums.
You also need to be sure that there is insurance—sometimes there isn’t! In some cases, people have bought a Chinese EV but cannot find a company that is willing to insure it.
Let’s take a look at an example:
The study looked at prices of Chinese, European, Japanese, and South Korean EVs, plus the cost of insurance premiums.
The most difficult car to insure was the Skywell BE11, a Chinese EV. The researchers compared it to the Peugeot E-3008, a French EV of similar size.
While all the insurance companies offered quotes for the Peugeot, only one offered cover for the Skywell. The average quote for the French car was £838 per year, compared to £2,203 for the Chinese vehicle.
The Skywell BE11 cost about 2.6 times as much as the Peugeot E-3008 to insure.
Why are premiums so high?
The researchers believe that the insurance premiums for Chinese EVs may be surprisingly high because:
- There are concerns about parts and repairs, which makes insurers unwilling to offer competitive premiums.
- Some brands are new and have virtually no track record. This means that insurers cannot yet evaluate the risks associated with them. Put simply, for many models, there is a lack of historical data.
- Some models are written off more easily after an accident, especially if battery damage is suspected, which can result in greater losses for the insurer.
- Repair networks are not yet established for the newer brands.
It once happened with Japanese cars
When Japanese cars entered the UK market in the 1960s, insurance premiums were generally higher than for British models because parts and repairs cost more, and there was a lack of historical data.
What is happening today with Chinese EVs could simply be a case of history repeating itself.
Famous brand names
Insurance premiums for well-known Chinese brand names, such as BYD, are more competitive.
BYD is a well-known brand in the UK. The company has a factory in Hungary and is in talks with Stellantis and other automakers about using underused European plants. With a factory in Europe and potentially more in the future, it is relatively easy to ship BYD parts to the UK.
