The short answer
A genuine pre-purchase inspection on an electric vehicle costs more than a conventional one, because it takes longer and needs equipment a general workshop has no reason to own. Our prices are below. The thing worth checking on any quote — ours or anyone else's — is whether a battery capacity test read from the vehicle's own systems is actually included, or whether "EV inspection" just means a standard check on an electric car.
Our Essential
$349
Battery SoH, high-voltage safety, 120-point check, road test.
Our Complete
$479
Adds live AC/DC charge testing, thermal, drive unit, fault codes, recalls, debrief call.
Dealer & fleet
POA
Volume pricing from five vehicles, branded battery reports.
Prices include GST and mobile call-out anywhere in our five service areas. Full inclusions are on the packages page.
What moves the price
Whether the battery is actually tested
This is the whole ballgame. Reading the battery management system needs EV-specific equipment and a technician who knows what the numbers mean for that model. It's the main reason an EV inspection costs more than a petrol one.
Whether charging is tested live
A real AC and DC charge session adds an hour or more on site, and it's where on-board charger faults surface. Cheaper inspections skip it.
Travel and access
Most operators add a call-out fee. We don't inside our service areas — the only exception is the bay islands, where the ferry is quoted separately and told to you up front.
Report depth and follow-up
A tick-box PDF is cheap to produce. A costed defect list plus a phone debrief you can negotiate with takes a technician's time after the visit — and is the part buyers actually use.
Does it pay for itself?
Weigh it against what you're risking rather than against the sticker price of the inspection. We won't invent an average saving — what we will do is put a costed number on anything we find, for the car in front of us.
| What we sometimes find | What that gives you |
|---|---|
| Measurable capacity shortfall | A costed reduction you can put to the seller in writing |
| Failing on-board charger | A repair quoted for your specific car before you own it |
| Coolant or chiller fault threatening the pack | The most expensive component in the car, at risk |
| Seized rear calipers from one-pedal driving | Common on EVs, easy to miss, cheap to fix once found |
| Undisclosed repair history or open recall | Resale value and warranty cover |
Plenty of the cars we inspect come back clean, and that's worth paying for too — you buy with the numbers in writing instead of hope. If the car does have problems, the checklist guide shows which ones you can spot yourself before you even book.
Not sure which level that car needs?
Send us the make, model and odometer. We'll tell you — including when Essential is genuinely enough.