Obviously cars get into accidents from time to time regardless of the propulsion technology, whether it’s a mainstream gas engine or a relatively-rare-to-find hybrid…

From talking with my insurance agent, I was surprised to know something new about owning a hybrid car: apparently a hybrid owner will have trouble finding a certified auto appraiser to look at the damage on his/her hybrid. There are just several of those in Massachusetts. I can only imaging how hard it is to find one in less populated states.

I am not picking on hybrids. I am saying that any drivetrain technology, especially combinations of two technologies, like gas and electric in hybrids, will need some time to sink in to infrastructure that we have to support the ownership. Like here it is auto insurance industry that needs to adjust to be able to effectively help people who need repairs with their new “cutting edge technology” vehicles.

The biggest culprit with electric cars is that currently there is no infrastructure for efficient (fast) recharging or the battery. There are advancements that Europe does in this area, but it is still far from being ready for mainstream. USA makes far less of a progress developing infrastructure for new types of drivetrain. Let’s hope it will improve soon.