Technology meets insurance market practice
Model year, mileage, equipment, service history and bodywork condition alone are no longer enough for a reliable assessment of an electric car. One of the vehicle’s most important components is the traction battery — a component whose actual condition cannot be reliably assessed through an external inspection alone.
This is precisely the issue addressed in an article by Gabriel Markut, CEO of Voltified Energy, published in issue 40/2026 of “Gazeta Ubezpieczeniowa” (a Polish insurance trade newspaper).
The piece, entitled “Bateria w aucie ma znaczenie dla wyceny i likwidacji szkody” (“The battery in a car matters for valuation and claims handling”), appeared on page 14 of the special supplement “Ubezpieczenia komunikacyjne – więcej niż OC” (“Motor insurance – more than third-party liability”).
The publication is an important step in taking the conversation about battery diagnostics beyond a strictly technical audience. Battery condition data may be needed not only by the car owner or a repair shop, but also by an appraiser, an insurer, a claims adjuster, a fleet manager or a business selling used vehicles.
Why is this topic coming up right now?
The electric car market is gradually entering its next phase of development. More and more vehicles are reaching the used-car market, changing hands, coming to the end of their basic warranty period, being involved in road incidents or being imported from abroad.
In such cases, the question of battery condition is no longer merely a technical curiosity. It becomes a question of the vehicle’s real value, the predictability of its further use and the extent of the risk borne by the successive parties to a transaction.
Two cars of the same model, built in the same year and with similar mileage, may have completely different usage histories behind them. Factors that can matter include charging habits, how often fast chargers are used, temperature conditions, leaving the vehicle for long periods at a very high or very low state of charge, and the way it is used in general.
Mileage alone therefore does not tell the whole story of a battery.
Battery condition can affect a car’s value
A traditional car valuation takes many factors into account: make, model, model year, trim level, mileage, technical condition, damage history and market conditions.
In an electric car, the condition of the traction battery is added to this list. If it affects the vehicle’s functionality, expected range and further use, it may also matter for its market value.
This does not mean that a single diagnostic parameter automatically determines the price of a car. A valuation should always take into account the full context of the specific vehicle. Without information about the battery, however, a significant part of its technical condition may remain unassessed.
For the buyer, this means the risk of acquiring a vehicle whose condition differs from what they expected. For the seller — difficulty in documenting the car’s good condition. For the insurer and the appraiser — additional uncertainty when determining the vehicle’s value before and after a loss.
“We don’t want the battery to remain a black box in the valuation process. If its condition can affect a car’s real value and the decisions made after a loss, the market should have access to data that can be documented, compared and responsibly interpreted.” — Gabriel Markut, CEO of Voltified Energy.
Handling electric car claims requires new expertise
Damage to an electric car can confront an appraiser or claims adjuster with questions that did not arise in this form with combustion-engine vehicles.
Among other things, it is necessary to establish:
whether the incident could have affected the traction battery,
whether the deterioration of certain parameters existed before the loss,
whether the anomalies detected are related to a specific incident,
whether a repair is technically and economically justified,
how a potential change in battery condition affects the vehicle’s value,
how to assess the value of the car or its salvage after the loss.
Not all battery damage will be visible during a standard inspection. At the same time, not every diagnostic deviation necessarily means damage caused by a collision.
That is why diagnostics should be part of a broader evidential and technical process. A test result does not replace an appraiser’s opinion, but it can provide data that cannot be obtained by assessing the body, the chassis or the vehicle’s mileage alone.
Four areas where battery data can matter
1. Vehicle valuation before insurance cover is taken out
Information about battery condition can complement the traditional assessment of an electric car’s value. This is particularly important for used vehicles, vehicles imported from abroad or those with limited documentation of their previous use.
2. Determining the extent of damage
A test carried out after an incident can help identify anomalies that require further verification. The greatest comparative value would come from being able to compare the result with an earlier report on the same vehicle.
3. Deciding between repair and total loss
Depending on the vehicle model, the type of damage and the availability of parts, battery condition may affect the economic assessment of a repair. This does not mean the claim is automatically classified one way or the other, but it provides another important element for the analysis.
4. Vehicle value after repair
Even a properly repaired car may need its battery condition documented. A clear report can increase transparency when the vehicle is sold later on and reduce the number of questions about how the earlier damage affected the high-voltage system.
SoH is important, but it should not be the only answer
Discussions about used electric cars often mention SoH, or State of Health. Put simply, it describes the condition of the battery relative to its original state.
The problem is that a figure presented as SoH may come from different sources and be calculated using different methods. It may be read from the battery management system, estimated from the available data or determined during a broader diagnostic test.
Without information about the method, the data source, the test date and the limits of interpretation, the number on its own can easily be misunderstood.
That is why Voltified Energy stresses that professional documentation should describe not only the final result, but also how it was obtained.
A good report should make it possible to identify the vehicle, state the date and scope of the test, describe the data sources and clearly communicate the limitations of the method used. It should also keep the parameters that were read separate from their subsequent interpretation.
A diagnostic report should not pretend to be a verdict
The purpose of diagnostics is not to automatically make decisions on behalf of the appraiser, the insurer or the repair shop. Nor should a report suggest certainty where the available data cannot provide it.
Its job is to reduce uncertainty by putting technical information in order.
In practice, this means clearly stating:
what was tested,
which method was used,
where the data came from,
what results were obtained,
what anomalies were observed,
what cannot be unambiguously confirmed on the basis of the test.
This approach is especially important in insurance processes, where every decision should be based on traceable information.
A shared interest of drivers, insurers and the used-car market
Greater transparency about batteries does not serve just one party.
For drivers, it means a better understanding of the vehicle they own or plan to buy. For sellers, it can be a way to document the car’s actual condition. For appraisers, it is an additional source of data. For insurers, it can reduce some of the uncertainty involved in valuation and claims assessment.
Across the market as a whole, standardised reporting can make vehicles easier to compare and reduce the information asymmetry between professional sellers and buyers.
The aim is not to create a single number that answers every question. It is to build a process in which technical data is collected, documented and interpreted according to clearly defined rules.
The Voltified Energy approach
Voltified Energy develops solutions for the independent diagnostics of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle batteries, and for presenting the results in a form that market participants can understand.
Our goal is to bring together three areas:
technical battery data,
documentation that can be used in business processes,
economic interpretation that takes into account the context of the specific vehicle.
This is also the direction in which we are developing the Battery Health Value methodology. Its premise is to look at the battery more broadly than through a single diagnostic indicator.
Battery Health Value is not meant to replace an expert appraisal or an insurer’s decision. Its purpose is to provide structured information that can become one of the elements of such an assessment.
Why does the publication in “Gazeta Ubezpieczeniowa” matter to us?
The article in issue 40/2026 is Voltified Energy’s first publication in “Gazeta Ubezpieczeniowa”.
Appearing in a trade issue devoted to motor insurance shows that battery condition is no longer a topic discussed only by car manufacturers, workshops and e-mobility enthusiasts.
It is starting to concern institutions that make day-to-day decisions about vehicle values, the scope of liability, whether repairs make economic sense and how claims are settled.
For Voltified Energy, this is an important stage in building a dialogue between the worlds of technology and insurance. We want to bring technical knowledge, market experience and the perspective of used electric car owners to this conversation.
At the same time, we emphasise that developing standards requires cooperation between many communities: diagnosticians, appraisers, insurers, repair shops, manufacturers, fleets and public institutions.
No single company will solve all of the market’s problems. It can, however, provide tools, data and methods that help people make better decisions.
E-mobility needs trust built on data
The growth of the EV market does not depend solely on new car prices, subsidy programmes and the number of chargers.
For many drivers, the biggest barrier remains uncertainty: how much the battery is really worth, how long it will last, what will happen once the warranty expires and how the car will be valued after a few years of use or after a loss.
The answer to this uncertainty should not be empty promises. What is needed is reliable data, clear reports and transparent rules for interpreting results.
We believe this is how trust in electric cars can be built — through knowledge, transparency and the ability to check the actual condition of a specific vehicle.
Where can you read the article?
Gabriel Markut’s article “Bateria w aucie ma znaczenie dla wyceny i likwidacji szkody” can be found on page 14 of issue 40/2026 of “Gazeta Ubezpieczeniowa”.
Table of contents and access to the e-edition:
https://gu.com.pl/gazeta-ubezpieczeniowa-nr-40-2026/
We would like to thank the editors of “Gazeta Ubezpieczeniowa” for inviting us to contribute and for creating space for an informed discussion about the future of motor insurance in the age of e-mobility.
If you represent an insurance company, a fleet, a repair shop, a network of appraisers or a business selling used electric vehicles and would like to talk about battery diagnostics, please get in touch with the Voltified Energy team.
