I replaced my 1.6 litre diesel VW Golf with a Nissan Leaf electric car six months ago, and am now totally converted to electric cars.

However, when our insurance recently came up for renewal the premium almost doubled from around £300 to more than £600. When asked why, the broker said many insurers won’t insure electric vehicles because they are an “unknown quantity”.

The more I think about it, the more unfair I think it is, as it pays to drive sedately in an electric vehicle as you save charge, and I suspect that drivers have far fewer accidents pro rata. TB, Leicester

We are pleased you are enjoying life behind the wheel of an electric car. These are surely the future for all of us.

We have contacted the experts and there are a number of reasons why your insurance has shot up. Your new Leaf is a much more expensive car to buy, repair and replace if stolen than your outgoing older VW. Had you replaced the older Golf with a new one, your premium would have similarly gone up. The Leaf is in insurance group 20 compared to the VW’s 15. Insurers don’t like cars that are not easily repaired following an accident, and the Leaf does fit into that category – hence the hike.

That said, we are not sure the premium should be double, and suggest you might want to shop around a bit more. The Moneysupermarket website will compare electric car insurance premiums and is worth a go. Its expert, Kevin Pratt, says one last thing to consider is whether you are insuring the batteries.

Some electric car buyers lease their batteries, and if you have it might already be covered by the lease firm, so you may be covering it twice.

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