What is ironic here is that EVs help reduce the env. destruction due to global warming, and thus lower ins. co. payouts. But nobody said insurance cos. were _smart_. Hence my difficulty insuring the Civic with anyone but AllState...
Sent from my iPod- so it's probably a short msg. - Bob On Jul 2, 2013, at 12:16 AM, brucedp5 <[email protected]> wrote: > > The company literally won’t explain why > “It doesn’t make any sense,” > > http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/06/26/19379-why-does-geico-insurance-refuse-electric-car-owners-coverage/ > Why Does Geico Insurance Refuse Electric Car Owners Coverage? > By Sophie Cocke 06/26/2013 > > The insurance company Geico won’t, for some seemingly inexplicable reason, > cover electric vehicles for new customers. > > By inexplicable, I mean that the company literally won’t explain why. > > Civil Beat spent a week trying to get an answer from Geico about why the > company that is famous for its Cockney-accented Gecko mascot doesn't like > electric cars. > > The company systematically refuses to insure such non-gasoline-powered > vehicles in Hawaii, although it makes an exception for some long-term > customers. No one — not Geico’s general manager in Hawaii, nor its corporate > communications team in Washington, D.C. — was willing to explain the logic > of the company's guidelines. > > Geico is the island's largest auto insurer — covering about one-fourth of > all the vehicles on the road, according to information from Hawaii’s > insurance division. > > The company's anti-electric guidelines offer a striking contrast to the > federal government, which is pouring billions of dollars into improving such > technology. Federal policy is in line with environmental policies and a > pressing desire to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The state government has > also invested millions to promote electric vehicles through rebates and by > developing an elaborate network of charging stations throughout the islands. > > Geico clearly has doubts about electric cars, but not everywhere. The > company does insure electric cars in California, perhaps due to the size of > the electric vehicle market there. > > And the company does cover hybrid vehicles, which use a combination of > electric batteries and gasoline, according to Tim Dayton, GEICO's general > manager in Hawaii. > > Also, customers in Hawaii whose previous gasoline-powered vehicle was > insured by Geico might be able to get protection for electric cars, > insurance representatives told Civil Beat. > > But if you buy or lease an all-electric vehicle — which a growing number of > people are doing — and then seek coverage, the company wants nothing to do > with you. > > In some ways, it seems like an odd business decision in a market like > Hawaii. > > The state has an aggressive goal to reduce oil consumption from ground > transportation by 70 percent by the year 2030, and Hawaii is seen by many > electric car manufacturers as an ideal market. > > Unlike on the mainland, you can only drive so far in Hawaii, so drivers > don't tend to suffer from mainlanders' "range anxiety," which is the fear of > a car battery dying far from a charging station. Statewide there are more > than 300 charging stations throughout the islands. > > Dave Rolf, the executive director of the Hawaii Automobile Dealers > Association, said that the islands are to the electric car "what Napa is to > the grape.” > > It is unclear whether or not the Geico Gecko likes wine, but he and the > company that he represents don't seem interested in talking about electric > cars. > > When Civil Beat contacted the head of the automobile dealers association, > several electric vehicle dealers, and the state energy office, all of them > said that Geico's decision not to cover electric cars was a surprise to > them. > > None of them have seen the notes that Geico sends out to electric car owners > that say: "We regret that we cannot accept your request for insurance at > this time." > > The specific reason, such letters say, is "Type of vehicle is unacceptable." > > “It doesn’t make any sense,” said Kurt Speas, an electric vehicle salesman > at Tony Nissan, which sells the Nissan Leaf. “It has an off-the-chart safety > rating.” > > Jeff Mikulina, executive director of the Honolulu-based Blue Planet > Foundation, a clean energy advocacy group, said it doesn't make good > business sense for Geico to reject the growing electric vehicle market. > > There are about 1,400 electric vehicles on the road in Hawaii, but that > number has doubled in the past year, and there are no signs of it abating > any time soon. (There are more than 15,000 hybrid vehicles on the road.) > > “We need to reduce every barrier to people buying electric vehicles,” said > Mikulina. “The last thing we want is people saying, ‘Oh no, how are we going > to insure it?’” > > Does the Geico Gecko Have a Voice? > > Geico has an entire department devoted to communications, but no one > contacted by Civil Beat was willing to respond to repeated requests for an > explanation of company guidelines on electric vehicles. > > Civil Beat called Geico's corporate communications department in Washington, > D.C. numerous times last week, but no one answered the phone or returned our > messages. > > Finally on Friday, Civil Beat did reach a member of the public relations > staff through the company's operator. Tony Blue, a public relations > coordinator for Geico, told Civil Beat that the office hadn’t received any > of our voice messages. He said he would get back to us on Monday. > > But when Civil Beat called him on Monday, he said, “I sent the request > through and nobody responded back. So I don’t think we are going to respond > to it.” > > Locally, Tim Dayton, Geico’s general manager in Hawaii, said that he doesn't > know enough to explain why the company doesn't insure electric vehicles. He > promised that Christine Tasher from the company's corporate communications > department would contact us on Monday. > > Tasher did not respond to queries by e-mail and by phone, and Civil Beat is > still waiting for a call that will explain Geico's dislike of electric > vehicles. > > And waiting. > > Here's one of the letters that Geico sends to customers with electric > vehicles: [ > http://www.slideshare.net/civilbeat/geico-pdf > ] Geico pdf from Civil Beat > [© 2010-2013 Peer News] > > > > http://hawaii.news.blogs.civilbeat.com/post/53950583856/geicos-consumer-advice-columnist-says-evs-not-ready > Geico’s Consumer Advice Columnist Says EV’s Not Ready for Primetime > by Civil Beat Staff 06/26/2013 > > Geico Corporate Communications wouldn’t respond to Civil Beat’s numerous > inquiries about why it won’t insure electric vehicles, as CB reported > Wednesday in: Why Does Geico Insurance Refuse Electric Car Owners Coverage? > > But this hasn’t stopped Geico from publishing consumer advice about electric > cars. > > Its page, “Are Electric Vehicles Right for You?” [ > https://www.geicoprivileges.com/members/article.php?sid=26XXdKrlo26&xid=129049 > ] warns of the “huge price premiums" associated with hybrids and EV’s and > the time it takes to charge the cars. > > The website suggests holding off on buying EV’s: > > "Unless you just have to own the latest EV on the market, it may be worth > your while to wait and see what other people’s experiences are with their > vehicles, especially as mileage improves for gasoline-powered cars," it > says. > > The web post is written by a Canadian mechanic named, Phil Bailey, who > maintains his own blog, “Phil Bailey’s Auto World.” [ > http://www.baileycar.com/ > ] > > Bailey’s not particularly taken with the “green movement" or electric cars. > > > On Phil Bailey’s Auto World, he writes: > > Green technologies, especially the electric car, are far from proving > themselves. > > Look, if you were to peel back the left’s support for green energy and its > desire to reduce carbon emissions, what you find is a group of people who > have fundamental problems with the USAs’ energy consumption. > > They don’t like the fact they consume 24 percent of the world’s energy and > they say it’s a tragedy that the average American consumes twice the energy > of a person in Japan, or six times the average Mexican. They also think the > U.S. should pare back its size, its influence and its capabilities. > > But you don’t get to be the world’s biggest economy on a snickers bar and > a shoe string. It takes energy and lots of it. > > > Civil Beat tracked Bailey down to see if he had any insight on why Geico > isn’t insuring electric vehicles. > > He said that it’s because electric vehicles have costly maintenance > problems, including the need to replace the batteries. > > "The battery technology is bad and it’s not ready for primetime by any > means," he said. > > Bailey also said that EV’s have very little benefit when it comes to carbon > dioxide emissions, compared to gasoline fueled vehicles. “You haven’t really > solved any kind of environmental problem," he said. > > Bailey said that he was paid by Geico to write a monthly column for the > company on EV’s for about 10 years - up until the recession hit in 2009. > > Gieco, which didn’t respond to our numerous inquiries about its EV insurance > policy, also didn’t respond to a question about why Bailey was chosen to > give advice on the cars. > > Jeff Mikulina, executive director of Blue Planet Foundation, said that “it’s > unclear if the author is referring to electric vehicles from this century or > another century." > > Here’s Mikulina’s response to Bailey’s comments: > > — In Hawaii the benefit is clear; the average gasoline passenger vehicle > will emit about 40% more greenhouse gas per mile than an electric vehicle. > > — From the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy: On the > average grid mix and on a full-fuel-cycle basis, plug-in EVs today offer > major reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to conventional > gasoline-powered vehicles (see Table 1): > http://aceee.org/blog/2013/06/getting-most-plug-electric-vehicles > > — As the share of electricity that comes from clean and renewable sources > grows, so do the environmental benefits. For combustion engines to “solve > environmental problems" they’d have to run on locally produced biofuels. > > 2) To the point about “battery technology is bad": > > — Batteries are rapidly becoming less costly. Before 2009, a 100-mile > range electric battery cost $33,000. Today it costs about $17,000, and it is > projected to drop to $10,000 by the end of 2015. > http://energy.gov/articles/top-10-things-you-didn-t-know-about-electric-vehicles > > — Tesla just announced battery swap option that can replace battery faster > and cheaper than filling a conventional tank of gas: > http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/21/autos/tesla-battery-swap/index.html > > — Battery technology continues to advance: Oak Ridge National Lab recently > tested new all-solid sulfur-based battery with four times the energy density > of lithium-ion batteries. > http://www.ornl.gov/info/press_releases/get_press_release.cfm?ReleaseNumber=mr20130605-00 > > — [Fed] announced today that his 2014 budget increases funding for clean > technology by 30 percent across all agencies: > http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/climate-action-plan > > 3) To the point about “public in general is very leery": > > — According to Department of Energy: Currently there are 13 electric > vehicle models on the market, and the number continues to rise. For model > years 2013 and 2014, manufacturers are expected to debut at least 18 new > plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles. They wouldn’t be manufacturing > these models if there isn’t a demand. > http://energy.gov/articles/top-10-things-you-didn-t-know-about-electric-vehicles > > — In February 2013, Nissan LEAF hit benchmark of 50,000 vehicles sold. > (Bloomberg wants 1/3 of taxi fleet in NYC to be electric by 2020. He’s also > calling for 10,000 EV car charging spots in the city by 2020.) > > ... All purchases subject to Hawaii and City and County of Honolulu General > Excise Tax of 4.712%. > [© 2010-2013 Peer News] > > > > > For all EVLN posts use: > http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=evln&sort=date > > Here are today's archive-only EV posts: > > EVLN: Electric Cars Beat ice Racers at Pikes Peak? > EVLN: Not so Smart quirky EV marketing, a redesigned ForTwo in ~2015 > EVLN: A shocking attack on the electric car (video) > EVLN: Madrid's EV-Only-Use Bid to Host 2020 Olympic Games > + > EVLN: 'Noisy EV' campaign gets backing from the blind (video) > > > {brucedp.150m.com} > > > > -- > View this message in context: > http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Geico-Won-t-Insure-EVs-in-Hawaii-tp4663984.html > Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at > Nabble.com. > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA > (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
