Article 03 · June 29, 2026 · 5 min read

What’s different about EV collision repair?

Aluminum panels, bonded structures and high-voltage systems change the repair plan — not the outcome.

Electric vehicles aren’t harder to repair. They’re different in three specific ways, and a shop that ignores any of them will hand back a car with problems that surface months later.

High voltage comes first. Before disassembly the system is powered down and isolated per the manufacturer’s procedure. This isn’t optional and it isn’t improvised.

Aluminum changes the shop floor. Many EV panels are aluminum, which requires dedicated tools and a physically separated work area. If steel dust settles on aluminum, you get galvanic corrosion — rust blooming under paint on a panel that was repaired correctly in every other respect.

Bonded and mixed-material structures mean the repair procedure is prescriptive. Some sections are sectioned, some are replaced whole, some can’t be heated at all. The factory procedure decides, not habit.

Paint is the same craft as always: measure the color instrumentally, then blend into adjacent panels so the eye never finds an edge.

The right questions to ask any shop: do you isolate HV systems, do you have a separate aluminum area, and do you follow the OEM repair procedure? If the answers are vague, keep calling.

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