Any word on Tesla Insurance outside of California?

[cyberforce]

The biggest pain in my side for owning this vehicle is going to be the insurance cost... I already know its going to be insanely expensive. Anybody have Tesla brand Insurance in CA? is it that much cheaper? I hope it's available in Texas by the time I get my CT, and its competitive with Geico...

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[Crissa]

They plan to, but no one knows how long the regulatory hurdles will take,

-Crissa

 

[WildhavenMI]

The biggest pain in my side for owning this vehicle is going to be the insurance cost... I already know its going to be insanely expensive. Anybody have Tesla brand Insurance in CA? is it that much cheaper? I hope it's available in Texas by the time I get my CT, and its competitive with Geico...

About 6 months ago I was considering selling my Volvo V60 and switching my non-utility commuter which racks up ~25k miles/year to an EV. M3 was my top pic, so I asked my insurance agent for a quote.

My insurance, for identical coverage to my current car, was $1700/year more expensive. Not $1700/year, $1700/year more. More than double the insurance on the Volvo, for a similarly priced vehicle.

So I shopped around. I checked out the Geicos/Progressives/Jerry.ai's of the world and all of them were like that. So I started looking at Chevy Bolts - and had a similar, but not as drastic, a problem.

IDK what is up with EV insurance, but it isn't just Tesla.

 

[Crissa]

EVs are expensive to repair, and they're not taking into account their safety at all.

Same for electric motorcycles. They're not known for being crashed, yet...

-Crissa

 

[CyberMoose]

It's ridiculous but they probably think that since they are the new thing, they can charge a higher premium.

Ultimately Teslas should be cheaper on insurance. Their safety ratings are second to none and payouts for injuries are one of the biggest costs for insurance companies.

 

[cyberforce]

I can only guess how bad insurance for the CT will be... I'm assuming alot of preorder refunds will be from people just unable to afford the insurance. I looked up the cost for a Model Y and my insurance went up $700 more, I then looked up the price for a new policy with just the Tesla and no other vehicles and it was much cheaper.

When I get mine, I'm likely going to get a separate policy just for it...

 

[MEDICALJMP]

Insurance is regulated on a state level in the US. Tesla needs to go through 50 individual processes to get approved in every state. That is why you cannot buy health insurance across state lines and get a cheaper policy. Once safety records with EVs become more established the regular companies prices will drop, but not soon enough. ?

 

[Crissa]

I looked up the cost for a Model Y and my insurance went up $700 more, I then looked up the price for a new policy with just the Tesla and no other vehicles and it was much cheaper.

When I get mine, I'm likely going to get a separate policy just for it...

That's what we did with the bikes. It makes no sense.

-Crissa

 

[Luke42]

The rumor from someone I know who works for a major car insurance company is that Tesla vehicles just cost more to repair than regular-cars, and that the safety features have not yet proven themselves in a way that's visible in their statistics.

An insurance company's ability to set prices is limited. They're a heavily regulated industry, and they can't jack up prices just because they feel like it. They have to set their prices based on their data.

If you buy a more expensive car, it's just going to be more expensive to repair/replace. That's priced into your insurance. It is what it is.

The aluminum-body F-150 is an encouraging story, though:
https://www.autoblog.com/2019/05/20/ford-f-150-aluminum-body-insurance-repairs/
Perhaps Teslas will follow a similar arc as they become more popular?

The insurance-cost ratings for the S and X from the IIHS are not encouraging:
https://www.iihs.org/ratings/insurance-losses-by-make-and-model
Tesla's are in the "luxury car" and "luxury SUV" category. The Model S and X have pretty high collision claims costs and lower injury costs. The Model 3 and Y are closer to average in terms of collision costs, but still above average in terms of injury costs.

As always, the picture gets more complicated when you look at it more closely -- and throwing money at a problem doesn't make tradeoffs go away.

 

[Crissa]

The rumor from someone I know who works for a major car insurance company is that Tesla vehicles just cost more to repair than regular-cars, and that the safety features have not yet proven themselves in a way that's visible in their statistics.

An insurance company's ability to set prices is limited. They're a heavily regulated industry, and they can't jack up prices just because they feel like it. They have to set their prices based on their data.

Well, yes and no: Their data is limited, and like that chart, doesn't include accident numbers... Just the cost of repairs. And while they consider the number of accidents 'too few to be calcuted' they never count that for the cost of repairs.

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-disqualified-safest-cars-list-few-crashes/

So it's a matter of massaging the numbers to make the outcome they want. And they want to make more money.

-Crissa

 

[Nanodot]

I can only guess how bad insurance for the CT will be... I'm assuming alot of preorder refunds will be from people just unable to afford the insurance.

fingers crossed that i don't have to cancel my preorder on that basis....

 

[ReddykwRun]

About 6 months ago I was considering selling my Volvo V60 and switching my non-utility commuter which racks up ~25k miles/year to an EV. M3 was my top pic, so I asked my insurance agent for a quote.

My insurance, for identical coverage to my current car, was $1700/year more expensive. Not $1700/year, $1700/year more. More than double the insurance on the Volvo, for a similarly priced vehicle.

So I shopped around. I checked out the Geicos/Progressives/Jerry.ai's of the world and all of them were like that. So I started looking at Chevy Bolts - and had a similar, but not as drastic, a problem.

IDK what is up with EV insurance, but it isn't just Tesla.

I received a quote from USAA last fall when I was looking at a MS and it was not out of line.

 

[Luke42]

Well, yes and no: Their data is limited, and like that chart, doesn't include accident numbers... Just the cost of repairs. And while they consider the number of accidents 'too few to be calcuted' they never count that for the cost of repairs.

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-disqualified-safest-cars-list-few-crashes/

So it's a matter of massaging the numbers to make the outcome they want. And they want to make more money.

Large insurance companies have 100% of the data for the cars they insure, including itemized repair bills from every claim.

If you look at the IIHS infographic (I hesitate to call it data), you'll see that the aspects of insurability that we Tesla fans like to talk about are only a small part of the whole picture.

The Model S and Model X are just expensive cars. The Model 3 and Y are less expensive. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

It's possible that the stainless steel body of the CT will he cheap to repair? Or maybe not? We won't really know until they start crashing and being repaired.

The problem here the idea that there is a perfect vehicle with no downsides. Every vehicle comes with tradeoffs, even the most badass and utilitarian Tesla ever made. Do those tradeoffs work for you?

These tradeoffs seem like a pretty good deal overall to me, at this point.

 

[Crissa]

Yeah, but insurance companies can just look at the repair price tag and ignore the pattern of behavior with a vehicle if it benefits them.

Which is what they're doing with EVs.

-Crissa

 

[MEDICALJMP]

I received a quote from USAA last fall when I was looking at a MS and it was not out of line.

Good to know. I was planning on getting a quote from them when the time comes. That is the nice thing about being in the half-million mark for CT. By then some decent numbers should fit the actuarial tables.