Although government subsidies can sometimes reduce the cost, electric cars are by and large more expensive than petrol or diesel cars - at least when considering the cost to your savings, not the environment.

But that's only the initial cost, and the added expense that come with electric car repairs over the years is not to be underestimated.

A study by the Allianz insurance company has shown that electric cars have higher repair costs on average than combustion engines.

While electric cars do not sustain more damage on average than cars with petrol or diesel engines, the repairs are nevertheless typically more expensive, the insurance company has found.

The average claims expenditure for fully comprehensive insurance is 10% higher for purely electric cars, and even 50% higher for plug-in hybrids, according to Allianz.

After collisions, the repair costs of pure electric cars are on average 30% more expensive. The accident and safety researchers at the Allianz Center for Technology analysed claims data from 2018 to 2020 for their study.

An important question for the fire brigade, police and helpers in the event of accidents is whether electric cars are more dangerous than vehicles with combustion engines.

According to both the Allianz evaluation and the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), the fire risk of electric cars is not higher than that of a combustion engine - however, according to the VDA, extinguishing requires more time and more extinguishing agents.

 - dpa