While electric vehicles (EVs) are slated to receive separate insurance plans from July 1, the insurance rates for them would remain on par with, or only slightly higher than, those for gas-powered vehicles.
The Taiwanese EV market is dominated by Tesla Inc, with the best-selling models being the Model 3 and the Model Y, insurance companies said yesterday.
The total number of EVs still only make up less than 0.005 percent of all vehicles in Taiwan, while gas-powered cars make up about 94 percent and hybrids make up 5.5 percent, they added.
Photo: CNA
However, unlike conventional gas-powered vehicles, EVs are considered to be written off after any sort of collision, large or small, and the entire chassis must be swapped out, resulting in repair fees exceeding hundreds of thousands of New Taiwan dollars, the companies said.
Based on the principle of fairness, the government has introduced a new insurance plan for EVs, as this would prevent owners of gas-powered vehicles from footing the repair bills of electric vehicle owners.
However, the premium rates for EVs would not be 50 percent higher than those for gas-powered vehicles, as some insurance companies had predicted.
Using referential rates issued by the Taiwan Insurance Institute, the insurance companies’ calculations show that type A plans for EVs, or comprehensive insurance plans, would cost the same as the comprehensive plans for gas-powered vehicles, while type B and C plans would be 6.8 percent and 9 percent more expensive respectively.
Type B insurance plans cover everything that a type A plan would except for intentional damage by a third party, while type C plans only insure the driver for vehicle-on-vehicle collisions, the insurance companies said.
The owner of a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range would have to pay NT$46,000 a year at most, if they take out type A insurance, while the owner of a Luxgen N7 would have to pay NT$34,000 per year, they said, citing the referential rates.
People who have taken out a type A insurance plan would not see an increase in insurance fees on July 1.
Owners of a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range vehicle or a Tesla Model Y rear-wheel drive vehicle who have taken out a type B insurance plan would see a NT$3,000 increase in their fees on July 1, while owners of the Luxgen N7 would see a NT$3,300 increase.
People with a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range vehicle or a Tesla Model Y rear-wheel drive vehicle with type C insurance, would see an increase of NT$1,500, while Luxgen N7 owners would pay NT$1,000 more.
EV owners whose insurance policies are due next month or in August can maintain their current rates if they renew their policies by the end of this month, insurance companies said.
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not
RSS