WHAT INSURANCE COMPANIES NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TESLA

[Tezzie]

I know that part of the reason insurance for Teslas is so expensive is because they are expensive to repair or replace.

But Tesla cars are also equipped with safety features that should discount premiums. Below are some of them. I've sent this list to my insurance company and to those that I'm interviewing if my current insurer won't budge on the premium–and I advise other Tesla owners to do the same, if you haven't already. If I've missed other safety features, please post it here.

TESLA SAFETY FEATURES

• Speed Assist (Cruise control)
• Parking assist
• Traffic-aware cruise control and autopilot
• Forward collision warning
• Low-Speed Autosteer no longer restricted to 35mph and can go 5 mph faster than detected speed. Autosteer on local roads maximum speed is 45 mph if speed is not detected
• Autosteer on interstate highways or divided highways (90 mph)
• Side Collision warning (works between 30mph - 85mph)
• Autopark (parallel) you must go slower than 15mph for the P to show up
• Auto lane change
• Lane departure warning
• Auto emergency braking @90mph or less
• GPS theft tracking by Tesla
• Brake Assist
• Electronic Stability Control
• Daytime Running Lights
• Child Safety Locks
• Traction Control
• Blind Spot Monitor
• Auto-Leveling Headlights
• Lane Departure Warning
• Lane Keeping Assist
• Cross-Traffic Alert

 

[Cheburashka]

So, did you let them know some of those features are in beta? That forward collision doesn't actually stop the car?

Is cross-traffic alert really a thing?

 

[demundus]

I know that part of the reason insurance for Teslas is so expensive is because they are expensive to repair or replace.

But Tesla cars are also equipped with safety features that should discount premiums. Below are some of them. I've sent this list to my insurance company and to those that I'm interviewing if my current insurer won't budge on the premium–and I advise other Tesla owners to do the same, if you haven't already. If I've missed other safety features, please post it here.

TESLA SAFETY FEATURES

• Speed Assist (Cruise control)
• Parking assist
• Traffic-aware cruise control and autopilot
• Forward collision warning
• Low-Speed Autosteer no longer restricted to 35mph and can go 5 mph faster than detected speed. Autosteer on local roads maximum speed is 45 mph if speed is not detected
• Autosteer on interstate highways or divided highways (90 mph)
• Side Collision warning (works between 30mph - 85mph)
• Autopark (parallel) you must go slower than 15mph for the P to show up
• Auto lane change
• Lane departure warning
• Auto emergency braking @90mph or less
• GPS theft tracking by Tesla
• Brake Assist
• Electronic Stability Control
• Daytime Running Lights
• Child Safety Locks
• Traction Control
• Blind Spot Monitor
• Auto-Leveling Headlights
• Lane Departure Warning
• Lane Keeping Assist
• Cross-Traffic Alert

When the price of parts comes down (Tesla uses the same equipment to make the parts as they do to make the cars... wonder why there's a parts shortage?) premiums will come down. Collision avoidance, passenger safety, and other technologies don't matter to the "collision" and "comprehensive" premiums, as those are put into play when you've actually wrecked the car. They are not calculated on your likelihood TO wreck the car (thats in your personal premium)

 

[dbldwn02]

I would send this to USAA but they tell me my rates jump because of hail. The body shops here charge between 20-50k for hail damage on Model S/X. They make sure that they charge the max amount without going over the magic number for totaling a car. I'm just guessing but I would say that hail makes up more than half the claims in Colorado. I came up with that guess from visiting the local certified repair centers. During the summer most of the cars are in for hail and most of those cars are waiting for parts.

Maybe Summon/FSD will be able to move my car away from a potential storm. Now that...I would be impressed with!!! LMAO!

 

[Az_Rael]

Cross-Traffic Alert

I don't think that is a current safety feature on Tesla. Unless they added it recently or something.

Also, I am not sure that letting your insurance know that Autosteer is available up to 90mph is really making a safety case. I doubt they think any driving at 90mph is "safe".

 

[dbldwn02]

I don't think that is a current safety feature on Tesla. Unless they added it recently or something.

Also, I am not sure that letting your insurance know that Autosteer is available up to 90mph is really making a safety case. I doubt they think any driving at 90mph is "safe".

Rear cross traffic isn't on my $87k Tesla. It is however, on my wife's $39k Outlander PHEV and it works perfectly. It's great for when people are speeding through parking lots.

 

[Az_Rael]

Rear cross traffic isn't on my $87k Tesla. It is however, on my wife's $39k Outlander PHEV and it works perfectly. It's great for when people are speeding through parking lots.

I have had it on rental Kias. It is very nice. I think they normally use radar to do it, so Tesla doesnt have the hardware currently.

 

[glide]

What makes you think insurance companies are not factoring in the overall safety of the vehicle into the equation?

A $100K car is expensive to insure.

 

[Naekuh]

It doesnt matter about saftey.

They can care less about how safe you are, its how much damages will cost in the long run.
Tesla's are ridiculously expensive to repair because of its all alu construction.
Tesla's have a ridiculously long wait time on parts, which means long rentals
Tesla's have one of the most complicated electronics in a car, which again, means difficulty in repair.

However.... Tesla's on most occasions are just thrown in total loss, because the repair on the car can get so costly, and in the long run, auctioning a salvaged tesla for the battery pack and parts, may just be more viable for the insurance company then trying to repair it.

I bet you they have the highest total loss ratio out of most cars minus full exotics.

This is why insurance is expensive.
Yes i freaked out when i saw that increase on my P100D and in LA metro on top.
And yes AAA specifically asked if I had a P in front.
Well at least it keeps me in check in driving it a lot... thats the only good side to it.

 

[trm2]

It doesnt matter about saftey.

They can care less about how safe you are, its how much damages will cost in the long run.

Insurance companies care most about safety. We can declare a car a total loss, not so much with a person. That said, yes, policies are priced by risk and what payouts are expected.

 

[roblab]

Just being electric makes it many times safer than a gas car.

 

[Snowstorm]

Insurance should be based on actual history. When S are new they were cheap to insure as it was based off similar luxury full size. Now with more history, they can compute the actual cost and it can go up or down.

 

[Naekuh]

Insurance companies care most about safety.

no not really.... not to the degree in discounts you would think one would recieve from a car with a much higher crash rating..

Just look at this list:
These are the 21 deadliest cars in America

wanna bet the premium prices on the cars in that list arent in any way reflective in the safety of the car, but instead on the MSRP and cost of repair?

 

[demundus]

Just being electric makes it many times safer than a gas car.

What makes you say this? And what does safety have to do with insurance premiums and cost to replace?

 

[Snowstorm]

Insurance companies do not care about safety. They care about money, that is all.

 

[whitex]

Just being electric makes it many times safer than a gas car.

How many times and how did you arrive at that number? In all situations or only specific circumstances?

 

[whitex]

• Blind Spot Monitor

Tesla took that out of their officially supported features. It doesn't work reliably. Maybe with v9.0 and AP2.5 it will get better (if the cameras are used in addition to the parking sensors which don't work well with wind, rain, etc).

• Autopark (parallel) you must go slower than 15mph for the P to show up

Not sure you want the insurance company to test that. Tried it many times, almost every time had to stop my car from scraping the curb or another car.

• Auto lane change

Really, you think this feature, even when not in Mad Max mode will actually cause less accidents?

• Brake Assist

You mean power brakes? Or regen? What exactly is the safety feature here?

• Auto emergency braking @90mph or less

Not top of the line in the industry (e.g. doesn't actually stop the car, only slows it down), but better than nothing, agreed.

• Electronic Stability Control
• Daytime Running Lights
• Child Safety Locks
• Traction Control

Standard on most cars today, required in some places too. Airbags too by the way.

• Side Collision warning (works between 30mph - 85mph)
• Cross-Traffic Alert

In vapourware stage, along with full self driving.

• Auto-Leveling Headlights

Did you install those yourself? No Tesla had auto-leveling headlights from the factory.

 

[ucmndd]

Insurance companies know all those things. That’s their job. They also likely know that the reduction in payout due to those safety features is less than the increase in payout due to very expensive repairs, and adjust their premiums accordingly. Being in the business of making money and all.

 

[f205v]

And don't forget that insurance company make their price ALSO on marketing strategies.
Taslarati are on average richer than Jon Doe and more fond of their cars, so they increase the premium price because they know we will pay for it. Maybe we will not happy, but we will pay for it.

 

[whitex]

Insurance company make money on statistics. They don't care what features you have or don't have, unless they have a clear proof of some features reducing the number or severity of accidents, which to them means less money paid out. That proof needs to be backed by data over some time proving that in fact that resulted in insurance company paying less money. With Tesla changing this so quickly, there is never enough data to prove whether for example lane keeping is reducing number of accidents because from version to version the behavior changes, leaving not enough data for the old version or new version. The reason the insurances have been going up lately is because the insurance companies have seen a higher than expected payouts, probably mostly due to cost of repair for Teslas. As much as people would like to believe in conspiracy theories, "Tesla people are more affluent therefore will pay more", that really doesn't matter to them. They look purely at the return - paid premiums must be some % (profit margin) higher than the payouts, as simple as that.