Insurance for electric vehicles: Zuno General Insurance floats electric vehicle add-on covers to protect batteries, accessories

Electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) owners in India can now avail of insurance covers specially designed keeping in mind the unique needs of the insurers. Zuno General Insurance has launched three new add-on insurance covers for electric vehicle (EV) owners. The first-of-its-kind covers have been floated for private charging stations, charging accessories and protection of the cars during charging.

Zuno General Insurance’s EV add-on covers have been designed to complement its standard private car policies and cater specifically to the unique needs of electric and hybrid vehicles, which are the newest trends in the car industry.

The features

The EV add-on covers have three essential components:

1. Comprehensive coverage

Comprehensive coverage has been introduced for privately-owned charging stations solely used for charging insured vehicles, safeguarding them against fire, theft, and accidental damage, which are common mishaps.

The company has extended the coverage to include charging cables, connectors, adapters, and all standard charging accessories for protection against accidental damage and theft.

"This add-on cover is applicable to private charging stations which are owned by the insured individual and used exclusively to charge their insured vehicles," said Pooja Yadav, Chief Product Officer, Zuno General Insurance.

2. Battery protection

Zuno General Insurance has also included the battery coverage add-on, which offers protection in case of consequential loss to battery or parts of the battery due to water ingression due to insured peril/short circuit. This would protect the car owner from the high cost of replacing the battery in the car if damaged due to the above-mentioned causes.

"Any loss or damage in the insured electric vehicle due to fire is covered in a regular comprehensive vehicle insurance policy; however, in Zuno General's EV Add-On cover, fire due to a specific cause, that is while battery charging is also covered. This is not stated exclusively under a regular comprehensive policy and often comes under grey area, so this gap has been covered through the inclusion of this add-on," Yadav further added.

3. Personal Accident Cover

Under the personalised accident cover, customers can add personal accident coverage for cases of injury or death resulting from a fire, blast, or short circuit at their private charging station while charging the insured vehicle.

Growing popularity of EVs

Electric vehicles are the newest trend in India. The Centre has also drafted policies to make EVs more popular. At present, EVs account for only 4.7 per cent of total automobiles sold in India. But it is expected to cross 10 per cent in the next few years. The segment has already seen a growth of over 200 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in FY23.

Till October 2023, 880,000 EVs have been sold in India. The festive season (October) saw sales of 140,000 EVs under all categories.

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