can produce 40% of initial estimates “without any further line items” needing to be added. An equal per-
Jimmy Spears of Tractable said his company’s AI estimating system has become adept at quickly determining from photos if a vehicle is a total loss
centage require review of one or two line items—with the estimate annotated as to what an appraiser needs to review—while the balance will require being handled “old school: have it towed, take the car apart and go classic blueprinting.” Moving beyond that 40% of initial estimates “without any further line items” needing to be added will require greater access to vehicle-specific OEM build sheet data,
he said. “If we get that, we’re going to have a greater understanding of that vehicle, the DNA of that car,” Spears said. “And then we’re going to have a much better understanding of what this car really needs, its repair process. We have got to solve the problem of build sheet data, and we’re in the right room for that.” In the interim, he said, AI estimating offers benefits to more than just insurers. Tractable has a test going with LKQ Corp., he said, using the technology in a bit of a reverse way: helping determine which parts are not damaged on salvage vehicles. It could also help collision repairers with the customer sales process, Spears said. Currently, estimators point a potential customer to a waiting area while preparing an estimate. “Instead, they’re going to be able to quickly take some images of the car, and then while the images are being processed, they can take the customer around the shop and show the investment that you have” in equipment, training and certifications, Spears suggested. “When they get back to the desk, here’s the estimate.”
Used Electric Car Prices Soared in 2021 by Andrei Nedelea, Inside EVs
While the new car market in the U.S. declined 13.4% in 2021, used electric vehicle sales went up year-over-year by an impressive 60%. Prices of used EVs also went up over the course of last year by more than 15%, and they remain higher on average than prices of used ICE vehicles, although this could just be because most EVs are newer vehicles and usually more expensive to buy. Recurrent, industry analysts that focus on EVs, said it was mainly stronger demand for electric cars that drove up prices, which came courtesy of a constant rise in consumers’ confidence, the reduced supply of vehicle prompted by the global chip shortage and other factors. “I look back at 2021 as an exciting year for electric vehicles in terms of overall market growth, as well as the all-electric commitments from manufacturers that will continue to spur adoption,” said Scott Case, CEO
and co-founder of Recurrent. “If price comes from the tension between supply and demand, let’s hope the industry can produce more electric cars this year because people certainly want them.” Another important conclusion drawn by Recurrent from analyzing EV sales through 2021 was that one third of used electric vehicles could be purchased for less than $25,000 and half for less than $30,000. This means they are more accessible than ever to car buyers, and their popularity is only going up as prices come down even more. GM’s recall for the Chevrolet Bolt EV did have a strong negative impact on sales of this model on the used market. Sales were down 74% and the source suggests this could have been because Chevrolet bought as many of them as it could from dealers, in order to keep them off the street. The plant that builds the model is currently idle and production is not expected to restart any sooner than March.
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