Car owners think it's too expensive, while insurance companies fear losses. With a market scale of hundreds of billions, why has the new energy vehicle insurance fallen into a dilemma?
In recent years, new energy vehicles have swept across the streets and alleys at a staggering pace. According to data from the Passenger Car Association, in 2024, 12.185 million new energy passenger vehicles were produced, a year-on-year increase of 36.4%. The domestic retail sales of new energy vehicles reached 10.899 million, a year-on-year increase of 40.7%, and the domestic retail penetration rate was 47.6%.
Even in provinces where new energy vehicles were difficult to promote due to vast territory and sparse population, the penetration rate is now getting higher and higher. For example, according to data from the Statistics Bureau of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the number of new energy vehicles in the region increased by 157.0% by the end of 2024.
However, it is worth mentioning that while the new energy vehicle industry is developing rapidly, the supporting new energy vehicle insurance market has fallen into an embarrassing situation of "polar extremes".
On the one hand, the scale of the new energy vehicle insurance market is expanding rapidly. In 2024, the premium of new energy vehicle insurance in China exceeded 100 billion yuan, accounting for 13% of the total vehicle insurance premium. It is estimated that it will climb to about 500 billion yuan by 2030, accounting for nearly 50%, becoming an important engine to drive the growth of vehicle insurance.
On the other hand, the industry is deeply mired in the quagmire of "high premiums, high accident rates, and high claim settlement rates". According to data from the China Actuarial Association and the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Information System, in 2024, the total premium income of new energy vehicle insurance in China was 140.9 billion yuan, but the underwriting loss was 5.7 billion yuan. The whole industry underwrote 2,795 vehicle models, among which 137 models had a claim settlement rate of more than 100%.
In order to resolve the contradictions in the new energy vehicle insurance industry where "car owners complain about high premiums and insurance companies complain about losses" and better support the development of the new energy vehicle industry, on January 24, 2025, four departments including the National Financial Regulatory Administration jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening Reforms, Strengthening Supervision, and Promoting the High - quality Development of New Energy Vehicle Insurance" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guiding Opinions").
Screenshot from the National Financial Regulatory Administration
However, the "Guiding Opinions", which should have been the "golden key" to break the industry's deadlock, hit a hard real - world barrier when it came to implementation.
The "Data War" between Automobile Manufacturers and Insurance Companies
In the seemingly blue - ocean market of new energy vehicle insurance, a smokeless "data war" is raging.
As the direct collectors of vehicle data, automobile manufacturers hold the core data in the process of vehicle R & D, production, sales, and use, from the number of charge - discharge cycles and health status of the battery to driving behavior habits, driving trajectories, and operating data of the autonomous driving system.
These data are the "codes" for accurately assessing vehicle risks, and they are exactly the relevant data that insurance companies urgently need to obtain to break the situation of "high premiums and high claim settlements" and achieve accurate pricing and effective risk control.
However, due to their respective interests, it is extremely difficult for automobile manufacturers and insurance companies to share data.
Automobile manufacturers regard data as their core assets. On the one hand, they are worried about the leakage of trade secrets after sharing. On the other hand, they want to use their data advantages to build their own closed - loop insurance ecosystem. Take BYD, a leading enterprise in the domestic new energy vehicle industry, as an example. After acquiring Yi'an Property Insurance in 2023, it actively deployed in the vehicle insurance market. In May 2024, BYD Property Insurance was approved to carry out compulsory traffic accident liability insurance for motor vehicles in eight regions such as Anhui and Jiangxi, officially entering the vehicle insurance field.
Screenshot from the National Financial Regulatory Administration
Insurance companies, due to uneven data processing capabilities and different levels of security protection, have difficulty gaining the trust of automobile manufacturers.
In this war, Tesla, a pioneer in the new energy vehicle industry, has set off a fierce industry storm. With the continuous increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, Tesla, with its absolute control over vehicle core data, is trying to bypass traditional insurance intermediaries and carry out "disintermediated" direct insurance business.
Data shows that Tesla's global sales exceeded 2 million in 2024. Behind the huge user base, Tesla has accumulated a vast amount of vehicle data. However, insurance companies have no access to this data. Without knowing key data such as the battery health status and the frequency of autonomous driving use, it is impossible to accurately price the insurance.
Insurance companies can only estimate the price of Tesla models based on limited public information and past experience. The information asymmetry increases the difficulty and risk of pricing. The consequences are obvious: either the premiums are too high, discouraging consumers, or the premiums are too low, resulting in underwriting losses for insurance companies.
Tesla's monopoly on data not only impacts the business models of traditional insurance companies but also throws the pricing system of the entire new energy vehicle insurance market into chaos, seriously restricting the healthy development of the industry.
Although the "Guiding Opinions" of the four departments clearly encourage data sharing, in actual operation, the interest game between automobile manufacturers and insurance companies makes data sharing extremely difficult.
This "data war" has made the implementation of the "Guiding Opinions" full of thorns and restricted the development of the new energy vehicle insurance market to a more mature stage.
The "Guiding Opinions": A Policy Blueprint for Breaking the Industry Deadlock
Facing the many difficulties in the new energy vehicle insurance industry, the four departments jointly issued guiding opinions and put forward systematic solutions from multiple dimensions.
In terms of reducing the maintenance and use costs of new energy vehicles, the "Guiding Opinions" encourage enriching the supply channels and types of new energy vehicle maintenance parts. Currently, the maintenance channels for new energy vehicles are limited, and the prices of parts are high. This measure is expected to introduce more competition and reduce the prices of parts. For example, promoting new energy vehicle manufacturers to open the sales channels of "three - electric systems" parts can provide more choices in the market, thus breaking the monopoly of original manufacturers on parts prices.
At the same time, exploring the establishment of a risk - grading system for insurance vehicle models. Through low - speed collision tests at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour, the loss conditions and maintenance costs of new models are evaluated and risk levels are divided. The vehicle insurance premium rate will be linked to the risk level. This measure aims to encourage automobile manufacturers to consider the safety and maintenance economy of vehicles at the design and production stage, reducing the risk cost of vehicles from the source.
On social platforms, posts from new energy vehicle owners complaining about the difficulty of getting insurance are not uncommon. To solve the problem of difficult insurance purchase, the "Guiding Opinions" point out the need to innovate and optimize the supply of new energy vehicle insurance. Among them, guiding the establishment of a risk - sharing mechanism for high - claim - settlement risks has attracted much attention.
Screenshot from a post by a netizen on a social platform
To solve the problem of "difficult insurance purchase" for new energy vehicles with high - claim - settlement risks, the China Insurance Association launched the "Good Insurance Purchase for Vehicle Insurance" platform on January 25, 2025. Any new energy vehicle owner who encounters difficulties in purchasing insurance through regular channels can connect with insurance companies through this platform, and insurance companies are not allowed to refuse to underwrite.
Ten large and medium - sized property insurance companies have been connected in the first batch, and more will be added later. The establishment of this platform provides an insurance purchase channel for high - risk vehicles, achieving "willing to insure all those who should be insured".
In addition, the "Guiding Opinions" also propose to steadily optimize the floating range of the self - pricing coefficient. Currently, the floating range of the self - pricing of new energy commercial vehicle insurance is 35% up and down on the basis of the industry benchmark premium, while that of fuel - powered vehicles can float 50% up and down. Reasonably optimizing this range will make the vehicle insurance price more in line with the risk.
At the same time, researching and launching "basic + variable" new energy vehicle insurance combination products and exploring commercial vehicle insurance products for "separating the vehicle and the battery" models can meet the diverse needs of different vehicle owners. For example, new energy online car - hailing vehicles can flexibly purchase insurance according to their actual operating conditions, and owners of battery - swapping vehicles can also obtain more scientific and reasonable insurance protection.
In terms of improving the operation and management level of new energy vehicle insurance, the "Guiding Opinions" require insurance companies to integrate the entire chain and all links of new energy vehicle insurance and effectively control operating costs.
In response to the current problems of insufficient premium adequacy, such as part - time online car - hailing vehicles being insured as private cars and part - time freight trucks being insured as non - operating trucks, property insurance companies are encouraged to legally use information such as the operating safety conditions of new energy online car - hailing vehicles provided by online car - hailing platform companies to reasonably determine the self - pricing coefficient.
Insurance companies should improve their risk identification and actuarial pricing capabilities for new energy vehicles, use technologies such as big data, blockchain, and cloud computing to achieve digital, online, and intelligent transformation and upgrading, and promote cost reduction and efficiency improvement through technological innovation and optimized business processes.
At the regulatory level, the "Guiding Opinions" strengthen all - around supervision of new energy vehicle insurance. It requires improving the quality and efficiency of claim settlement services, making claim settlement more efficient and convenient through green channels for claim settlement, pre - payment, and online damage assessment and claim settlement.
At the same time, it strictly regulates the market order, strengthens the supervision of "reporting and implementation consistency", promotes the reduction of non - compliant and unreasonable fees, and prevents the emergence of market chaos. It will also optimize the supervision of rate back - tracking, strengthen industry self - discipline, effectively protect the rights and interests of consumers, and create a healthy and orderly market environment.
UBI Vehicle Insurance: The "Noah's Ark" towards Accurate Pricing
For the new energy vehicle insurance industry struggling in the quagmire of "high premiums and low claim settlements", UBI vehicle insurance (full name Usage - Based Insurance) can be regarded as a lifesaver.
UBI vehicle insurance, which determines premiums based on usage, is like a "private actuary". The common UBI vehicle insurance models can be roughly divided into: pay - as - you - drive, pay - how - you - drive, and a hybrid model (mileage + behavior).
By using devices such as the Internet of Vehicles, smartphones, and OBD network terminals, driving behavior data is continuously collected 24 hours a day. Data such as the number of sudden accelerations and sudden brakes, the length of driving mileage, and the size of turning angles can all be detected.
These seemingly ordinary driving data, after being analyzed by specific algorithms, can accurately assess the driving risks of vehicle owners. Owners with poor driving habits will naturally face higher premiums, while "veteran drivers" with smooth driving can enjoy real - world premium discounts.
The inherent intelligent advantages of new energy vehicles are naturally compatible with UBI vehicle insurance. Currently, new - force vehicle manufacturers such as XPeng and NIO have launched premium discount policies based on driving scores. Insurance companies can achieve an accurate portrait of vehicle risks by analyzing a large amount of real - time driving behavior data, breaking the traditional "one - size - fits - all" extensive pricing model of vehicle insurance.
From a development trend perspective, with the further popularization of technologies such as 5G and the Internet of Things, the data collection of UBI vehicle insurance will be more comprehensive and accurate, and its application scenarios will also continue to expand. The UBI vehicle insurance products jointly launched by new energy online car - hailing platforms and insurance companies can dynamically price insurance based on data such as operating hours and driving mileage, which not only guarantees the profits of insurance companies but also benefits drivers with low risks.
For example, Hyundai Property Insurance cooperated with Didi Chuxing. With the help of Didi's online car - hailing platform resources, it established the positioning of "providing exclusive protection for online car - hailing drivers" in 2023. Through self - built risk - control models, it explored a new energy online car - hailing vehicle insurance pricing model that combines "dynamic + static + user behavior data" and has achieved certain results in the construction of UBI vehicle insurance products.
However, even with technological means such as UBI vehicle insurance, the industry still faces severe risk - control challenges.
In 2025, a fraud case in Sunshine Property Insurance involving an amount as high as 76.23 million yuan exposed the systematic management deficiencies of Sunshine Insurance, especially in terms of sales compliance, claim settlement transparency, and risk - control mechanisms.
Lawbreakers weaved a net of fictitious transactions and forged documents, manipulating insurance companies at will. They inflated vehicle prices, exaggerated loan amounts, and mortgaged the vehicles for cash after delivery. A series of operations were carried out smoothly, and Sunshine Property Insurance's risk - control system failed to detect the abnormalities in time. The lawbreakers were only arrested six years later.
The loan - fraud case of Sunshine Insurance exposed not only the loopholes of one insurance company but also the weak links in the risk control of the entire vehicle insurance industry, especially in the new energy vehicle insurance business involving multiple parties. There is poor information communication and a lack of a coordinated anti - fraud mechanism. Each institution in the industry is like an "information island", acting independently and unable to form a joint force against fraud.
From the perspective of market development trends, as the scale of the new energy vehicle insurance market continues to expand, the fraud risk will further intensify. It is urgent for the industry to establish an information - sharing platform for insurance companies, banks, automobile dealers, etc., break the data barriers, and share key information such as vehicle sales, loans, and claim settlements in real - time.
Conclusion
From data islands to risk - sharing, the path to breaking the deadlock in the new energy vehicle insurance industry is full of challenges. The implementation of the "Guiding Opinions" requires all parties to put aside their interest disputes and untie the knot of difficult insurance purchase for users. It is necessary to build a value - symbiotic system of "automobile manufacturers - insurance companies - vehicle owners" and all parties should work together. The promotion of UBI vehicle insurance requires continuous technological innovation to gain market recognition. The construction of an anti - fraud mechanism requires the concerted efforts of the entire industry to jointly safeguard.
Only in this way can new energy vehicle insurance truly break out of the "pricing dilemma", ride the wave in the new energy vehicle trend, and achieve a transformation from high - speed growth to high - quality development.
This article is from the WeChat public account "Luming Finance" (ID: luminglab), author: Jin