EV insurance
Get cover for your electric or hybrid vehicle with Tower, your forward thinking insurer.
Compare our EV car insurance
Bought a new EV or just checking to see if you have the best cover? Our car insurance buyers guide might help.
Remote vehicle assessments
Need to make a claim? Some of our priority repairers can assess your car remotely using your mobile phone, without you needing to leave home.
Be rewarded with GoCarma
Drive safely? With GoCarma, the better you drive, the lower your excess. Download today on the App Store or get it on Google Play. Find out more.
Two year replacement from new
Insure your new car with Tower and if it's written off, we'll replace it with a new car of the same make, model and variant inside the first two years.
Lost or stolen keys? Replaced excess free
We’ll replace your keys or remotes if they’re lost, stolen or you think they’ve been illegally duplicated, and you won’t have to pay any excess for the first claim.
Tower's car insurance policies
Choose from one of our policies:
Comprehensive cover: This option covers accidental damage, as well as any damage your car causes to someone else’s vehicle or property.
Third party, fire and theft cover: This option also covers your vehicle against fire and being stolen, as well as damage your car causes to someone else’s vehicle or property.
Third party cover: This option pays for damage you cause to other people's car and property, but not your own.
This is a summary only. For all terms, conditions, limits and exclusions, please read the policy wording.
Comprehensive
Third party, fire and theft
Third party
Electric vehicle insurance FAQs
BEV
- BEVs are powered solely by electric batteries, so they must be topped up at a plug-in charging station or at home.
- Electric car batteries have a certain lifespan and can be expensive to replace.
Hybrid and PHEV
- Hybrid vehicles and PHEVs use a combination of batteries and a conventional engine.
- PHEVs can be charged at home or at charging stations, just like BEVs.
- Hybrid vehicles and PHEVs are more efficient and environmentally friendly than pure petrol or diesel vehicles. However, you’ll still need to fill your car up with petrol or diesel.
- Driving an electric vehicle in New Zealand instead of a petrol or diesel car will cut your CO2 emissions by 80% compared to petrol and diesel vehicles1
- BEVs emit 60% fewer climate-changing emissions over their full life cycle than petrol vehicles2
- Fully electric vehicles may be cheaper to run with less maintenance required as they have fewer moving parts than non-electric cars3
- Fully electric vehicles make less engine noise which means a quieter ride4
- The network of charging stations across the country is growing. Some local councils offer free parking for EVs, and charging points may be near to the entrance of supermarkets and service stations. Find your local EV charging station.
The Clean Car scheme gives you a helping hand in going greener by offering a rebate on an eligible new or used light vehicle . Visit the NZTA website for more details.
No, you don't need special insurance. Subject to our underwriting criteria, we generally insure electric vehicles under our car insurance policies. One exception is the BMW i3 which we don't insure currently.
We insure various popular electric vehicles from brands like Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, and Volkswagen.
Although we insure petrol hybrid vehicles (hybrids whose motive power is not derived, wholly or partly, from an external source of electricity) they do not qualify for the rebate. Remember to check the eligibility criteria on the NZTA website.
The cost of car insurance can vary as we use a risk-based pricing model. This takes into account things like the type of car you drive, your car's value, and where you live. Read our brief guide to find out more about our car insurance pricing.
Tower's Comprehensive car insurance covers your batteries if they are damaged as part of a sudden and accidental event, fire or theft. There is also limited cover for this under Third Party, Fire and Theft policies. Tower policies don't cover battery failure or wear and tear on normal or electric vehicles. Please read the full details of cover in the Comprehensive and Third Party, Fire and Theft policy wordings.
Tower's Comprehensive and Third Party Fire and Theft policies cover your electric car's standard charging pack and cable for accidental fire or theft. Please read the full details of cover in the Comprehensive and Third Party, Fire and Theft policy wordings.
If a charging station is installed in your home, this would fall under your home and/or contents policy. Buy house and contents insurance with Tower.
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References
1 https://www.eeca.govt.nz/assets/EECA-Resources/Research-papers-guides/ev-lca-report-infographic-nov-2015.pdf
2 https://www.eeca.govt.nz/assets/EECA-Resources/Research-papers-guides/ev-lca-report-infographic-nov-2015.pdf
3 https://driveelectric.org.nz/individuals/what-is-an-ev
4 https://driveelectric.org.nz/individuals/what-is-an-ev
The links we provide to third-party websites are for your convenience and do not constitute any endorsement or authorisation by us. The information provided on this page is general in nature and is not intended to be professional or legal advice. Tower does not accept any liability for the accuracy or content of information on this website that belongs to third parties or on any third-party website.
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