EV repair costs 1.7 times higher than gas cars, after-sales satisfaction drops

While new energy vehicles (NEVs) now outsell traditional fuel vehicles in new car sales—and the gap continues to widen—most models still market cost savings over fuel vehicles as a key selling point.

During in-store experiences, the low energy consumption and low operating costs of NEVs are repeatedly emphasized, and these factors remain important drivers of consumer choice, particularly among customers switching from fuel vehicles to electric vehicles. Lower electricity costs compared to fuel, fewer routine maintenance items, and high daily cost-effectiveness are all tangible advantages of NEVs.

However, beyond these basic savings, as NEV sales increase year by year and vehicle intelligence continues to improve, a growing number of owners are complaining about high repair costs, cumbersome after-sales issues, and persistently high insurance premiums.

Repair Costs 1.7 Times Higher Than Fuel Vehicles

J.D. Power recently released its 2026 China New Energy Vehicle After-Sales Service Satisfaction Study, indicating that despite rising NEV sales and rapid technological iteration, the after-sales system still faces numerous pain points that urgently need addressing. The most prominent issue is that the average cost of accident repairs for NEVs is approximately 1.7 times that of fuel vehicles. The China Automobile Maintenance and Repair Industry Association puts the range at 1.6 to 2.3 times.

In cases of severe collisions, repair costs for some NEV models can approach the price of a new vehicle. Although, in theory, accident repairs are covered by insurance (except for breakdowns not involving accidents), industry regulatory data shows that a significant proportion of owners purchase only compulsory traffic insurance, skipping third-party liability or vehicle damage coverage. Moreover, the high repair costs of NEVs have further impacted the auto insurance market, with many household NEV models incurring high claim amounts, directly driving up annual premiums.

Following a series of new regulations implemented in 2026, many issues that plagued NEV owners—such as the high cost of battery overhauls—have noticeably decreased. Relevant authorities are also taking multiple measures, including supply-side improvements, standard-setting, and incentive mechanisms, to continuously reduce NEV repair costs.

The "Persistent Challenge" of NEV Repairs

J.D. Power's study shows that in 2026, the NEV accident repair business faces structural challenges characterized by "high costs and low闭环 (closed-loop) efficiency." Specifically, the average cost of accident repairs is 1.7 times that of fuel vehicles. But more frustrating than high repair prices is the structural dilemma of the NEV after-sales system, which is the root cause of poor user experience.

Currently, the NEV industry still widely suffers from issues such as non-uniform damage assessment standards, long supply cycles for core parts, and severely limited third-party repair channels.

Data shows that among approximately 400,000 auto repair shops nationwide, only 2% have the capability to fully repair the three-electric system (battery, motor, and electronic control). The acceptance rate for NEV repairs at third-party independent repair shops is only 8%, with over 90% of repair resources monopolized by brand-authorized channels. Automakers have built technical barriers by encrypting three-electric system underlying programs, locking firmware flashing permissions, and bundling official warranties. Even if third-party shops obtain parts, they cannot complete system matching and data calibration, leaving owners with almost no low-cost repair options.

This closed-loop after-sales system has produced starkly contrasting user survey data. Users who contact the brand's 400 hotline immediately after an accident report a service satisfaction score of 744 points—the highest among all help channels. However, the corresponding Net Promoter Score (NPS, calculated as percentage of promoters minus percentage of detractors) is only -10.5 points. This striking data indicates that no matter how polite the hotline staff or how thoughtful the service script, the hotline merely acts as an "information relay station" that fails to solve core problems. The inability to quickly assess damage, deliver parts, and complete repairs in a closed loop means that users remain anxious even after making the call.

Due to insufficient after-sales execution capability, automakers have been unable to secure users' first trust touchpoint after an accident. According to the study, although the proportion of automakers proactively reaching out to users has reached 49.2% (nearly half), 42.2% of owners still instinctively contact their insurance company first, rather than the car brand, when an accident occurs. This means that in users' core demand scenarios, the service value of NEV companies has not truly taken root.

More concerning is that the entire NEV industry is currently trapped in a vicious cycle of "cost reduction first, service second," which is continuously eroding the daily driving experience of a large number of owners.

Industry data shows that 88% of vehicle accidents are high-frequency, low-cost incidents under 10,000 yuan, such as scratches and minor collisions. These incidents occur frequently and affect a wide range of users, making them key scenarios for automakers to provide service support and enhance user satisfaction. However, they often result in poor user experiences due to slow damage assessment, cumbersome procedures, long waits for parts, and high communication costs.

According to the 2026 H1 New Energy Vehicle Brand After-Sales Service Capability Study released by JieLanLu, the industry average after-sales service capability score for the first half of 2026 was only 78.33 points, a decrease of 1.41 points compared to the second half of 2025, indicating a continuous decline in overall service quality. Amid fierce market competition, many automakers have directly passed cost-cutting pressures to their after-sales departments, compressing maintenance resources, reducing service investment, and tightening after-sales permissions, further diminishing the car ownership experience.

Industry Rectification Accelerating

With NEVs now the主力 (main force) in new car sales, according to data from the Ministry of Public Security, as of the end of June 2026, the number of NEVs in China reached 48.97 million, accounting for 13.19% of total vehicles, an increase of 2.92 percentage points year-on-year. Amid this quantitative change, many long-standing industry issues are now facing top-down systematic rectification and standardization.

In the past two years, China has continuously implemented multiple national standards in the automotive maintenance and repair field, covering key links such as parts circulation specifications, vehicle repair and maintenance, specialized power battery repair, and the utilization of recycled parts from scrapped motor vehicles. These standards lay the institutional foundation for breaking the chaos in the after-sales industry. In June of this year, the Ministry of Commerce, along with eight other departments, jointly issued the Notice on Several Measures to Cultivate and Expand the Automotive Aftermarket Consumption, introducing three categories of optimization measures targeting the industry pain points of expensive repairs, difficult maintenance, and high insurance premiums, charting a clear path for the standardized development of the NEV aftermarket.

On the repair service side, the notice explicitly urges vehicle and power battery manufacturers to fully open up repair technology authorizations, breaking down brand technology and parts barriers. At the same time, it vigorously promotes the "repair instead of replacement" model to fundamentally reduce the cost of NEV accidents and routine maintenance.

On the insurance service side, the new regulations simultaneously promote the reform and upgrade of the NEV insurance system. Authorities require the establishment of a comprehensive vehicle classification and grading system, moving away from the previous uniform, one-size-fits-all pricing model. Pricing will be refined based on dimensions such as vehicle failure rate, repair cost, and safety performance.

With sustained policy efforts, the long-standing problems of expensive NEV repairs and high insurance payouts have already seen substantial improvement.

According to the 21st issue of the Automobile Zero-Parts Ratio System Index Research released by the China Insurance Research Institute in August, the "NEV Zero-Parts Ratio 100 Index" fell to 311.42%, a slight decrease of 0.82 percentage points from the previous period, indicating that the overall premium space for core parts continues to narrow.

The index most critical to owners' premiums and accident costs has seen significant improvement: the "NEV Repair Burden 100 Index," which is closely tied to insurance compensation depth, stood at only 23.81, a decrease of 3.85 from the previous period, a drop of 13.92% —a rare substantial decline in the industry in recent years.

The primary driver of this significant index decline is the continued decrease in power battery costs. As the most expensive and costliest-to-repair core component of NEVs, the drop in battery prices directly lowers the threshold for vehicle repairs and insurance claims, effectively alleviating the industry pain point of "high costs for minor accidents" in electric vehicles.

It is worth noting that despite the continuous decline in the repair burden, the NEV zero-parts ratio remains high. An index of 311.42% means that the total price of all vehicle parts still far exceeds the vehicle's selling price. Combined with lingering issues such as after-sales channel monopolies, cumbersome repair procedures, and poor experiences with minor accidents, the structural contradiction of NEVs being "cheap to buy, expensive to repair" has not been completely eradicated. However, under the multiple influences of policy implementation, declining parts costs, and the opening of the repair system, the rules of the NEV aftermarket are being optimized and reshaped.

Author: Zheng Yu