Any US based Insurance Incentives?

[DeadHead616]

We currently have our auto insurance through Citizens and have been happy thus far. But listening to a couple EV podcasts, insurance companies are beginning to lower premiums or offer discounts on EVs, and the M3 in particular for its safety. They said that such factors as less moving parts, not carrying 20gal of explosive liquids on board, etc all played a role in lower pricing for EVs.
BOTH of the podcasts were based overseas. But wondering if anyone knows of an insurance company here doing something like this yet? In the good 'ol USoA, profits take precedence, so my guess is no. Most auto insurance companies are scammers IMO. We seem to always be behind in this aspect. It'd also be nice to get a small discount for a dashcam, but no such luck there either.

 

[C141medic]

I have Allstate. Called them a while back and no discount for me. They didn’t even know it was all electric. You would think that they’d offer a decent discount for some of the features in the car such as being able to track it like LoJack, difficult to steal, etc. But, I’m also in NJ so I’m used to not expecting much when it comes to insurance.

 

[CAP23]

I have Allstate. Called them a while back and no discount for me. They didn’t even know it was all electric. You would think that they’d offer a decent discount for some of the features in the car such as being able to track it like LoJack, difficult to steal, etc. But, I’m also in NJ so I’m used to not expecting much when it comes to insurance.

Just a shout out to C141medic. Brings back memories of a generation ago when my then 5 year old son was medevac from PI to the states. The care he received from medical staff in flight was exceptional. Thank you.

 

[srs5694]

Personally, I wouldn't focus on "discounts" offered by a specific insurer. Instead, I recommend calling several insurers, and/or using an insurance broker or Web site that will compare several insurers' plans. I did this when I bought my Model 3, and I was shocked at the variability. I didn't save the details, but there was about an 8x variation from the cheapest insurance to the most expensive. The most expensive one was an outlier, though; without it, it was more like a 3x variation, IIRC. Still, even a 3x variation is significant. I ended up changing from Geico (which insures my Chevy Volt, which is a lease that I'll be returning in a week or so) to Progressive. I'm actually paying less to insure my Model 3 than I did/do to insure my Volt. (Chances are I should have done this comparison long ago!)

In terms of specific named discounts, Progressive doesn't call out any EV-specific discounts that I recall, although the sorts of things you mentioned may be baked into the base rate. There is a discount for the Tesla's anti-theft system and one or two other features, but these are all features that are available on many ICE vehicles, too.

On the flip side, Teslas are expensive cars, and they have a reputation for being expensive to repair, which drives up insurance rates. If I'd stayed with Geico, my rates would have almost doubled to go from a 2017 Volt to a 2019 Model 3. I also checked on a 2019 Chevy Bolt's rates. Those would have been about mid-way between the Volt and Model 3 rates. I didn't check Progressive's rates for all three cars.

 

[SSedan]

We currently have our auto insurance through Citizens and have been happy thus far. But listening to a couple EV podcasts, insurance companies are beginning to lower premiums or offer discounts on EVs, and the M3 in particular for its safety. They said that such factors as less moving parts, not carrying 20gal of explosive liquids on board, etc all played a role in lower pricing for EVs.
BOTH of the podcasts were based overseas. But wondering if anyone knows of an insurance company here doing something like this yet? In the good 'ol USoA, profits take precedence, so my guess is no. Most auto insurance companies are scammers IMO. We seem to always be behind in this aspect. It'd also be nice to get a small discount for a dashcam, but no such luck there either.

Silliness, the battery is still a substantial fire hazard and should that get damaged cost more than all those moving parts in the engine and transmission combined.

If insurance companies are lowering prices it is more likely they started at a high price and now that there have been some accidents to track know they have some excess margin and can begin to try and lower price to compete for volume.

 

[SageBrush]

the battery is still a substantial fire hazard

I have no idea what you mean. The fire risk of an EV is ~ 1/10 that of an ICE. That is a real and substantial difference.

In any case, I'll guess that any chance of Tesla having reduced rates would be indirectly linked to its low profile and subsequent reduced injury to others in collisions.

 

[C141medic]

Just a shout out to C141medic. Brings back memories of a generation ago when my then 5 year old son was medevac from PI to the states. The care he received from medical staff in flight was exceptional. Thank you.

You’re welcome. Happy to hear that. Flew out of McGuire AFB. Welcome to the forum.

 

[SSedan]

I have no idea what you mean. The fire risk of an EV is ~ 1/10 that of an ICE. That is a real and substantial difference.

In any case, I'll guess that any chance of Tesla having reduced rates would be indirectly linked to its low profile and subsequent reduced injury to others in collisions.

Please cite a source. EVs are relatively new in volume, we don't know what will happen when the average one on the road is nearly 12yo as is the average age of cars in USA in general.

 

[dankumm]

SSedan before you ask for sources to backup viewpoints counter to yours why don't you site your sources showing batteries are a significant fire hazard. As it stands there are plenty of conversations in this forum that have repeatedly shown, even after normalizing for number of electric vs gas cars on the road, that electric cars are significantly less at risk for fire than a gas car is....in fact it is not even close. Since this has been put to rest several times i'd like to hear your sources that suddenly break from this trend.

 

[SSedan]

As I eluded to the number of vehicles vs. fires is an incomplete picture. The average vehicle on the road is almost 12 years old. Disrepair, negligent repairs, structural rust etc. all play a roll in vehicle fires. EVs are too new in volume to be directly compared unless we can get data for ICE 2 years old and newer. I would love to find data that detailed.
EV fires in new cars may well be less prevalent, BUT the way they can start hours later and are near uncontrollable when they do and prone to reignition are all things you would consider if you were thinking rather than expressing emotion.

 

[SageBrush]

EV fires in new cars may well be less prevalent, BUT the way they can start hours later and are near uncontrollable when they do and prone to reignition are all things you would consider if you were thinking rather than expressing emotion.

Actually, petrol fires are explosions while Tesla fires are burns. So not only is the prevalence 1/10th, the kind of combustion is safer in a battery.

Do your own data gathering first so you know what you are talking about, rather than posting errors and then asking me to prove you wrong.