CCC report shares latest EV claims and sales trends

A new report from CCC Intelligent Solutions shares the latest trends shaping EV sales, vehicles in operation, claims outcomes, and repair economics.

EVs now represent 3.7% of the claims mix, while hybrids make up 8.5% and combustion engine vehicles 87.8%.

“However, this distribution shifts significantly when focusing on newer vehicles,” the report states. “Among vehicles three years old or newer, EVs represent 9.7% of the mix and hybrids 18.5%. Over the same period, the share of combustion engine vehicles in this segment has declined sharply, from nearly 95% in 2020 to less than 72%, illustrating the rapid electrification of the newest portion of the vehicle fleet.”

In 2025, 12.7% of EV claims were total losses, representing an increase of nearly 2 percentage points from 2024. By comparison, the overall industry total loss rate was 23.1%.

The report notes that vehicle values are playing an increasingly important role in these trends, with average adjusted vehicle values (AAVV) for EVs declining by 46% since October 2022, compared to a 17% decline across the broader industry.

In 2025, more than 93% of repairable EV claims involved vehicles six years old or newer. For hybrids, vehicles six years or newer accounted for more than 81% of repairable claims. In contrast, just under 52% of repairable claims for combustion engine vehicles were in this age range.

“At the older end of the spectrum, 48.1% of repairable claims for combustion engine vehicles involved vehicles seven years or older,” the report states. “This compares to 18.6% for hybrids and just 6.7% for EVs, further underscoring the relative youth of the EV fleet.

“In 2020, the average total cost of repair (TCOR) difference between EVs and hybrids in this age group was $1,809, with EVs costing approximately 43% more to repair. By 2025, that gap had narrowed significantly to $445, with EVs costing only about 7% more than hybrids on average.”

It adds that while the labor cost gap between EVs and hybrids has narrowed from more than $1,300 per repair to just over $700, EV repairs still require more labor on average.

“This reflects both higher labor hours and higher labor rates,” the report states. “The difference in labor hours alone has declined from nearly eight additional hours per EV repair in 2020–2021 to fewer than two hours in 2025.”

CCC also found that total parts costs are slightly higher for hybrids than for EVs among vehicles three years old or newer, by $160 per repair.

EVs also continue to experience above-average depreciation, according to the report.

On average, EVs depreciate by 57.2% over five years, representing an average loss of more than $28,000 relative to MSRP, the report states. By comparison, the overall market average is 41.8% (-$16,571), and hybrids average 35.4% depreciation (-$13,010).

“From a claims standpoint, this level of depreciation has several implications,” the report states. “It may contribute to an increased share of total losses within the EV segment, influence salvage values, and affect consumer outcomes — particularly where the gap between a vehicle’s value and outstanding loan balance widens. At the same time, declining values may make used EVs more attractive to cost-conscious consumers, particularly as off-lease supply increases, though concerns around battery life, degradation, range, and long-term value retention are likely to persist.”

Following the expiration of EV tax credits in September, CCC says the market experienced a dramatic decline in sales, falling by 36% in Q4 2025. EVs made up 5.8% of light vehicle sales in both Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, according to the report. Of the 296.5 million light-duty vehicles in operation as of Q4 2025, about 5.7 million, or 1.9%, were fully electric.

CCC concludes in the report that EV sales volatility, shifting residual values, and evolving repair dynamics are introducing new considerations for every stakeholder in the ecosystem.

“At the same time, EVs are becoming increasingly concentrated in newer vehicles, ensuring their influence on claims, repair, and total loss outcomes will continue to grow,” the report states. “For insurers, repairers, and industry participants, the challenge is not simply to track EV adoption, but to understand how these intersecting trends — leasing cycles, depreciation, repair convergence, and policy uncertainty — are redefining the economics of the market.”

Affordability challenges are making consumers treat lower-severity claims as optional purchases, according to the latest CCC Crash Course report.

As smaller claims decrease within first-party coverages, the severity mix is reshaping, the report says. This follows decisions by consumers to opt for higher deductibles and coverage downgrades.

Another change is a 16.1% reduction in comprehensive volumes in 2025, based on CCC data. That made up about 40% of the overall volume variance, with collision accounting for 50%.

It also found that the mix of 7- to 12-year-old vehicles has increased to about 41% in 2025 valuations, up from 33.4% in 2020. The share of 1- to 6-year-old vehicles declined by 7.7% to 25.4% in 2025.

Drivable total losses have also been increasing since 2021, the report states. Drivable total loss vehicles have increased at a rate higher than the overall share of drivable claims, the report says.

Images

Featured image credit: 3alexd/iStock

Graphs provided by CCC