This thread was created on July 12, 2016. The information contained here is accurate only as of that date.
Today, I called my insurance company (MetLife) and discussed with them that I thought I had an error in the VIN number which potentially could affect the price I pay for insuring my Tesla vehicle. The VIN number was requested of me when I transferred from my old car. I indicated that my VIN shows I have a 90 kilowatt (KW) battery and not a physical 75 KW battery which is software reduced to 70 KW.
I shared my concern that a large portion of the value of my vehicle is based on which battery I have installed in it and therefore how much I would pay for insurance. To my amazement, the insurance underwriter I spoke with also did a lookup on the Tesla Web site which showed that a Model S 70D does, in fact, NOT have a 90 KW battery but that I was paying for one which did. She also agreed I was owed a significant rebate on what I should have been charged from the day I took ownership to today, July 12. In addition, she calculated that the difference in annual price of ownership of My Model S 70D based purely on the actual size of my battery would be only 64% of what I was going to be charged upon renewal in December of this year. She agreed that her corporate interface with Tesla needs to be updated with better information and she said she will be providing this information to MetLife Corporate to handle properly.
Two things:
1. This potentially affects many people who owns a Tesla product. I recently found a Model X thread which shows the same issue. My MX 75D's VIN resolves to 90D
2. I believe this is significant information. As a result, I suggest this become a sticky thread so others can benefit from this information.
Background information:
Here are the first 7 digits of my VIN: 5YJSA1E
5YJ decodes to Tesla
S decodes to Model S
A decodes to a hatchback vehicle
1 decodes to it having airbags
E decodes to having a 90 KW battery
Here is information on how I decoded my VIN #:
Decoding Tesla Model S VINs
It was that letter E - the 7th digit in my VIN which was the issue. A friend of mine who has a Model S 90D also has the letter E as the 7th digit.
But when I spoke with my underwriter she ignored the VIN and it became clear that Tesla had provided MetLife with incorrect battery size information even OUTSIDE of the VIN number. So, as far as my insurance company was concerned both the secondary information they had as well as the VIN agreed that I had a 90 KW battery in my Model S 70D. My insurance company had "pricing" information for a 70D but Tesla was saying that I had a 90D both from the VIN information as well as the other descriptors Tesla was providing my insurance company about my car. I am going to save $603 annually next year on top of the $245 rebate I have received for this year. Not bad for a single phone call.
I hope this information helps everyone get the proper pricing for their insurance on their Tesla vehicle as a result of reading this. I also hope your insurance company was as cooperative as mine was too.
Cheers
Today, I called my insurance company (MetLife) and discussed with them that I thought I had an error in the VIN number which potentially could affect the price I pay for insuring my Tesla vehicle. The VIN number was requested of me when I transferred from my old car. I indicated that my VIN shows I have a 90 kilowatt (KW) battery and not a physical 75 KW battery which is software reduced to 70 KW.
I shared my concern that a large portion of the value of my vehicle is based on which battery I have installed in it and therefore how much I would pay for insurance. To my amazement, the insurance underwriter I spoke with also did a lookup on the Tesla Web site which showed that a Model S 70D does, in fact, NOT have a 90 KW battery but that I was paying for one which did. She also agreed I was owed a significant rebate on what I should have been charged from the day I took ownership to today, July 12. In addition, she calculated that the difference in annual price of ownership of My Model S 70D based purely on the actual size of my battery would be only 64% of what I was going to be charged upon renewal in December of this year. She agreed that her corporate interface with Tesla needs to be updated with better information and she said she will be providing this information to MetLife Corporate to handle properly.
Two things:
1. This potentially affects many people who owns a Tesla product. I recently found a Model X thread which shows the same issue. My MX 75D's VIN resolves to 90D
2. I believe this is significant information. As a result, I suggest this become a sticky thread so others can benefit from this information.
Background information:
Here are the first 7 digits of my VIN: 5YJSA1E
5YJ decodes to Tesla
S decodes to Model S
A decodes to a hatchback vehicle
1 decodes to it having airbags
E decodes to having a 90 KW battery
Here is information on how I decoded my VIN #:
Decoding Tesla Model S VINs
It was that letter E - the 7th digit in my VIN which was the issue. A friend of mine who has a Model S 90D also has the letter E as the 7th digit.
But when I spoke with my underwriter she ignored the VIN and it became clear that Tesla had provided MetLife with incorrect battery size information even OUTSIDE of the VIN number. So, as far as my insurance company was concerned both the secondary information they had as well as the VIN agreed that I had a 90 KW battery in my Model S 70D. My insurance company had "pricing" information for a 70D but Tesla was saying that I had a 90D both from the VIN information as well as the other descriptors Tesla was providing my insurance company about my car. I am going to save $603 annually next year on top of the $245 rebate I have received for this year. Not bad for a single phone call.
I hope this information helps everyone get the proper pricing for their insurance on their Tesla vehicle as a result of reading this. I also hope your insurance company was as cooperative as mine was too.
Cheers