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At least one national insurer, AAA, is raising rates on Tesla vehicles based on data showing that the Model S and Model X had abnormally high claim frequencies and high costs of insurance claims compared with other cars in the same classes.
AAA said premiums for Tesla vehicles could go up 30 percent based on data from the Highway Loss Data Institute and other sources.
Tesla is disputing the analysis.
"This analysis is severely flawed and is not reflective of reality," the electric-vehicle maker said in a statement emailed to Automotive News. "Among other things, it compares Model S and X to cars that are not remotely peers, including even a Volvo station wagon."
Anthony Ptasznik, chief actuary of AAA, said the group noticed the anomaly in company data and then investigated other data sources, primarily relying on the Highway Loss Data Institute because of its scope, to confirm its analysis. "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," he said.
Other large insurance companies, including State Farm and Geico, said that claims data is a major factor in calculating premiums, but would not disclose if their Tesla-owning customers would also see rates rise.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 5, Insightful) by AthanasiusKircher on Wednesday June 07 2017, @02:31PM (6 children)
The way you say is makes it sound like TFA is saying Teslas themselves are less "safe" (however "safety" is defined). But it doesn't necessarily mean that. It could mean that Tesla drivers are less safe as a demographic. It could mean that Teslas -- as a somewhat rare car -- just cost significantly more to repair, for average claims. It could mean that Tesla drivers for some reason just file more claims (perhaps other car owners are more likely to pay for less major repairs out of pocket or something).
Also, Tesla and AAA may be looking at different aspects of claim costs. From this analysis [cleantechnica.com]:
I don't know enough about the situation to know whether this is all accurate, but it's more nuanced than just saying, "Teslas crash more."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 07 2017, @02:53PM (4 children)
Understanding anything P666 posts is pretty simple:
P666 is obsessed with established (and thus evil) "elites" and wants them overthrown by new elites.
So the insurance companies are evil elites, while billionaire musk is a 'good' elite.
Anything an established elite does that doesn't help a new elite is visible proof of conspiracy.
Its the tip of the elite deep state iceberg.
For some reason he thinks elites trading places will help the plebs. Because the new boss isn't the same as the old boss.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 07 2017, @03:08PM (3 children)
Understanding anything is simple when you reduce it to a caricature. That's OK. It's hard to think. Processing complexity takes effort. Nuance and critical thinking are for oldsters who believe not everything can be reduced to a one-click smartphone app, which every right-thinking AC knows absolutely is the case.
Yeah, sure, in this case I supplied substantiation that the New York Times did do a hatchet job on Tesla, and got caught; that the media seized on one of the first Tesla car fires and blew it out of proportion, and got caught; and that others push a meme about carbon-shifting that has been disproved. I could also have cited the case where Top Gear staged the failure of the Tesla Roadster in their review of the car, and only escaped liability because they called their show 'entertainment,' not 'factual.'
But you're right, citing several cases in a row of "reputable" sources doing hatchet jobs on the company is purely my personal invention and no proof at all. You win, AC.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 07 2017, @03:20PM (1 child)
> ...I supplied substantiation that the New York Times...
But none of your examples have anything to do with the cold facts that actuaries work with when setting insurance rates. Things like: the types of drivers attracted to certain models of car, cost to repair, where the car is garaged, etc. As someone else noted earlier, there is plenty of competition in the car insurance business, no insurance company will survive for long if they set rates based on popular press reports.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 07 2017, @03:46PM
Yes, because my examples were about other parties gaming data to smear Tesla and its cars before. The NYT reporter was gaming the review, unaware that Tesla had put a black box in the car after they got burned by Top Gear doing the same thing. And PR companies specialize in hits like this. I don't know that one was behind this AAA story, but it feels suspect to me.
So bring you the cold facts the actuaries were working with to justify this rate increase and let us judge. Athanasius did, and that's good because it's adding perspective to the discussion of the topic. I don't know that it's what was happening here, but it's at least something to chew on.
Your "contribution" to the discussion, though, was to belittle me categorically. It adds nothing and makes none of us any wiser.
Do like Athanasius, not as you have done.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 07 2017, @07:08PM
You voted for trump because (you say) you didn't know the TPP was already dead on arrival.
You constantly tell everyone how you got fired by the Clintons after partying it up in arkansas.
You claim that the existence of one conspiracy proves any other conspiracy theory is true.
Face it, you are a caricature.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 07 2017, @03:15PM
See my earlier post --
by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 07, @10:06AM (#521902)
It may have the side effect of a tax on hipsters, but I strongly suspect the real reason is that Model S and X are aluminum intensive. Aluminum bodied cars are *much* more expensive to repair than the steel equivalent. Ask any premium car owner -- Jag, Audi have been early with aluminum, but it's everywhere now.
Possible reasons that AAA is seeing extra repair costs in their data could be:
+ Expensive replacement body panels (probably only sourced from Tesla, no aftermarket).
+ Can't get the Tesla parts at regional or local parts warehouses, requiring extra delays in shipping out the parts.
+ Very few Tesla approved repair shops, so longer flat-bed runs if you aren't near the right shop.
+ After a distant repair, the car may have to be flat-bedded back to the owner, because lack of range.
Some of these will go away if Tesla continues to grow and invests in their complete "ecosystem" beyond just Superchargers. Cars get bent and it costs to fix them.