A new study by Comparis has revealed that car insurance in Switzerland for electric vehicles (EVs) is much cheaper than for normal cars. In some cases, EVs were 29 percent cheaper to insure than their gas-guzzling equivalent.

Electric versus combustion cars: Which is cheaper to insure?

To create the study, the online comparison site analysed the average insurance premium for different types of electric and combustion vehicles. Six electric cars produced by Volvo, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Mini Cooper, Hyundai and Škoda were chosen and compared to the brand’s non-electric equivalent. For instance, the BMW X3 was compared to the BMW iX3.

When it came to who was being insured, Comparis went for an equal number of made-up men and women who were all aged between 20 and 30 and were all Swiss citizens. Five fake people per city - Zurich, Winterthur, Ticino, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Lausanne, Geneva, Biel / Bienne, Bern and Basel - had their insurance premiums compared. 

Finally, their details were passed through 11 different insurers, to see how much their premiums would be for each type of vehicle. Each car's scores were then combined into an average.

EVs are up to 29 percent cheaper to insure in Switzerland

Surprisingly, given that electric cars are often much more expensive to buy than petrol and diesel vehicles, and are more expensive to fix if they are involved in an accident, electric motors were generally cheaper to insure. On average, insurance premiums for electric cars were 22 percent less than their combustion-engined equivalent.

The most stark difference was found between the Hyundai Kona 2.0 and the Kona Electric in Canton Ticino. The average insurance premium for the electric car stood at 1.966 francs a year, while the price to insure the standard car was 2.350 francs. This means that the electric car was 29 percent cheaper to insure. 

Similar gaps were also recorded in Zurich and Geneva (both 27 percent). By contrast, the most competitive insurance for combustion vehicles was also in Ticino. There, the cost to insure an electric Mini was “only” 12 percent cheaper than the petrol version on average.

Electric cars remain the most economical in Switzerland

Also as part of the study, Comparis found that young people continue to face the highest premiums on the market in Switzerland, with costs in Ticino found to be the highest nationwide. Interestingly, the study found that sex does not have as big an impact on car insurance premiums as it used to. “This observation was surprising because the difference between the sexes is often highlighted in other car insurance comparisons,” noted Comparis expert Sandro Spaeth.

In all, the comparison website concluded that lower running costs and prices for energy make electric cars more economical in the long run, despite their higher initial price. However, Comparis spokesperson Dirk Renkert concluded by warning that with electric cars set to be subject to all vehicle taxes in the future, it could slow down the number of new EVs being bought - for context, a fifth of newly registered cars in Switzerland in 2023 were electric.