Owners of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) in India can now obtain insurance coverage tailored to the insurers' specific demands. Zuno General Insurance has introduced three new insurance add-ons for electric vehicle (EV) owners. The first-of-their-kind covers have been proposed for private charging stations, charging accessories, and car protection while charging.

The EV add-on covers from Zuno General Insurance have been intended to supplement its basic private car policies and cater exclusively to the unique needs of electric and hybrid vehicles, which are the newest developments in the automotive market.

The characteristics

The EV add-on covers are made up of three basic parts:

1. All-inclusive protection

Comprehensive coverage has been implemented for privately-owned charging stations that are primarily used for charging insured automobiles, protecting them from typical catastrophes like fire, theft, and accidental damage.

For protection against accidental damage and theft, the firm has expanded the coverage to include charging cables, connectors, adapters, and all conventional charging accessories.

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

2. Battery safety

Zuno General Insurance has also incorporated a battery coverage add-on, which protects against consequential loss to the battery or portions of the battery caused by water ingression as a result of an insured peril/short circuit. This would shield the automobile owner from the expensive cost of replacing the battery in the car if it was damaged as a result of the aforementioned causes.

"Any loss or damage in the insured electric vehicle due to fire is covered in a regular comprehensive vehicle insurance policy; however, fire due to a specific cause, that is while battery charging, is also covered in Zuno General's EV Add-On cover." This is not stated solely in a standard comprehensive policy and frequently falls into murky areas, thus this gap has been filled by including this add-on," Yadav added.

3. Personal Accident Insurance

Customers can add personal accident coverage to their personalized accident protection for cases of injury or death caused by a fire, blast, or short circuit at their private charging station while charging the insured car.

EVs are becoming increasingly Popular

In India, electric automobiles are the newest trend. The Centre has also prepared plans to increase the popularity of EVs. EVs currently account for only 4.7% of total automotive sales in India. However, it is likely to surpass 10% in the next years. In FY23, the segment grew by more than 200 percent year on year (YoY). In India, 880,000 EVs will have been sold by October 2023. During the holiday season (October), 140,000 EVs were sold across all categories.