The House of Lords report ‘EV strategy: rapid recharge needed’ provides an important overview of the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and echoes calls made in a major Thatcam Research study issued last year.
When involved in the repair of a crash-damaged EV, high voltage batteries bring significant additional cost into the insurance workflow. And although much of the House of Lords report focuses on charging infrastructure, it’s encouraging that it also proposes the “…introduction of a cross-industry battery health testing standard… to provide clarity around the condition of an old or damaged battery.”
Thatcham Research is therefore renewing calls for the automotive and insurance sectors to work collaboratively to reduce the cost of battery repair or replacement.
This can be achieved not only through an enhanced understanding of damaged EV batteries, but also the introduction of appropriate repair methods, affordable recertification schemes, and end-of-life management and recycling, to recognise the considerable value tied up in high voltage batteries.
Thatcham Research supports the introduction of battery diagnosis standardisation and will continue to follow this topic with interest. Thatcham Research also emphasises that these challenges are not insurmountable, and a sustainable ecosystem can be created for EVs.
Further information is available in our prior LinkedIn articles:
