Tesla Owners Could Soon Be Paying More for Insurance
The American Automobile Association has said that it is raising premiums on Tesla vehicles by up to 30 percent.
Tesla, naturally, isn’t happy with the move.
AAA Chief Actuary Anthony Ptasznik said that they noticed some anomalies in Tesla claims to date, so they took a look at some other data sources. Data from the Highway Loss Data Institute, a research organization that gathers and publishes data on vehicle insurance claims, backed up AAA’s findings. Ptasznik said that “looking at a much broader set of countrywide data, we saw the same patterns observed in our own data, and that gave us the confidence to change rates.”
The report covered 2014-2016 model years. In the large luxury SUV class, where the Model X is grouped, claim frequency is the same as the average for all vehicles, and the cost is 43 percent above average. Model X owners file 41 percent more claims than average, and they cost 89 percent more. The Model S, in the large luxury vehicle class, saw 46 percent more claims than average, with claims costing more than double average (the rest of the class is 13 percent more claims and 50 percent higher cost). That’s a big jump for insurers.
Russ Rader, a spokesman for HLDI’s parent group the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety offered an overarching comment.
“Teslas get into a lot of crashes and are costly to repair afterward, consumers will pay for that when they go to insure one,” he said.
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Tesla disagrees with the claims. In a statement to Automotive News, Tesla said that its cars were being incorrectly grouped because they had a higher rate of acceleration than their peers. The statement called it “false and misleading.” They also added that National Highway Traffic Safety Administration testing shows the Model S holds the lowest likelihood of injury and said that “we expect Model X to receive the best score for any SUV ever tested.”
Tesla is working with insurance companies as part of their Insure My Tesla program to ensure lower rates for their customers. The automaker says that in addition to the crash testing scores, “leading insurers also appreciate the added safety benefit of Autopilot.”
The company also argues if the Highway Loss Data Institute’s system placed it with the right competitors, Tesla’s crash data would not stand out negatively. The data however, says the Tesla Model S is involved in 46 percent more claims than average, and those claims cost more than twice the average.
A version of this story originally appeared on Hybrid Cars
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Evan moved from engineering to automotive journalism 10 years ago (it turns out cars are more interesting than fibreglass pipes), but has been following the auto industry for his entire life. Evan is an award-winning automotive writer and photographer and is the current President of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada. You'll find him behind his keyboard, behind the wheel, or complaining that tiny sports cars are too small for his XXXL frame.
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Always an uphill battle for Tesla and they're just trying to do good. Greedy and corrupt AF politicians, oil companies and their buddies in the industry refuse to change.
I'm not surprised the repairs to a brand new low volume luxury car cost more. Limited parts dealers, no aftermarket suppliers, additional sensors, and luxury car parts, all drive up costs. We also shouldn't be surprised that cars faster than many sports cars also get into more accidents either.