Mitchell Q2 EV Collision Report: BEV Claims Fall for First Time in U.S.

Mitchell's Q2 2025 Plugged-In: EV Collisions Insights Report examines the decrease in collision claims frequency for repairable battery electric vehicles in the U.S. and increase in mild hybrid electric vehicle claims across North America. It also explores how changes to government incentive programs are impacting consumer adoption of BEVs on both sides of the border.

Claims frequency for repairable, collision-damaged BEVs fell significantly for the first time in the U.S.— dropping to 2.92% last quarter, a decrease of 7%, said Ryan Mandell, vice president of strategy and market intelligence at Mitchell. This decline coincided with a 6.3% reduction in new BEV purchases compared to Q2 2024 despite record-breaking sales earlier in the year.  

Federal tax incentives are set to expire in September and discounts for electrified options reached an all-time high of nearly $8,500 per automobile by the end of the quarter. In addition, General Motors emerged as one of the strongest challengers to Tesla, doubling its BEV sales and giving buyers more alternatives.

Even with the declines, there are more BEVs on the road today than ever before and many organizations are still betting on the long-term growth of electric propulsion. Panasonic recently opened a $4 billion lithium-ion battery plant in De Soto, Kansas and plans to employ 4,000 workers by the end of 2026. The company also began mass production of 2170 cells at a second North American facility with the goal of establishing annual production capacity of nearly 32 GWh in the future. 

Unlike all-electric counterparts, sales and claims frequency of mild hybrids are increasing. Repairable mild hybrids rely on a small electric motor to assist the gasoline engine. In Q2 2025, it rose to 4.62% in the U.S. and 4.33% in Canada, a jump of 2% and 9% respectively over the previous quarter. 

For collision repairers and auto insurers, the steady growth represents an opportunity to focus on vehicles that combine cost advantages like automobiles with an internal combustion engine and less specialized training than is necessary for BEVs. Without the dramatic policy fluctuations affecting all-electric options, mild hybrids also present a more predictable and financially stable segment for carrier underwriting models. 

To date, tariffs and the global trade war have not had a substantial effect on used vehicle pricing. Total loss market values were relatively stable last quarter and BEVs declined -1.70% while ICE automobiles saw a reduction in the normal range of 0.21%. Plug-in hybrid vehicle market values declined 2.87%, while mild hybrids saw an increase in value of 1.62%. This is likely because these automobiles have not experienced the same aggressive dealer pricing tactics as their BEV and plug-in hybrid counterparts and prices have remained stronger with more consistent demand. 

In the U.S., average severity for repairable vehicles was $5,903 for BEVs, $5,254 for plug-in hybrids, $4,788 for mild hybrids and $4,938 for ICE automobiles in Q2. In Canada, it was $6,633 (CAD) for BEVs, $5,916 (CAD) for plug-in hybrids, $5,742 (CAD) for mild hybrids and $5,156 (CAD) for ICE vehicles.