After pioneering the mainstreaming of electric cars, a new report suggest Tesla may now have its sights set on insuring those vehicles too.
Read more: Tesla’s new master plan: Reshape the car industry one disruption at a time
Tesla’s insurance experiment
Autoblog reports the company is floating a trial balloon by teaming with insurers in Australia and Hong Kong to underwrite policies that would cover Teslas already on the road. AXA General Insurance in Hong Kong and QBE Insurance in Australia are reportedly the partner insurers.
While a Google search reveals there is supposedly an InsureMyTesla website, the link was redirecting to the automaker’s support page at last check.
Perhaps more tantalizing, there’s a pdf file floating around that details what the Tesla insurance plan would cover.
Here’s a partial list of coverages:
- Replacement with new vehicle after a total loss for three years from registration date
- Hiring a car after theft or accident — Maximum of $2,500 for 14 days
- Lost, destroyed or damaged locks and keys — Maximum of $2,500 per policy period
- Protection extends to Wall Connector and charging at public chargers
- All drivers covered behind the wheel of your Model S
- Extensive glass coverage including windows, mirrors, panoramic roof, windscreen and head and tail lamp
As for cost, the Australian version of this policy reportedly works out to be the equivalent of $900 annually. That’s really cheap considering how uber-expensive Teslas are!
If this Pacific Rim insurance test goes well, we could see a similar policy here in the United States.
Take a look at what a driverless car insurance policy would look like
You no doubt heard about the role Tesla’s Autopilot feature played in the recent death of one driver. Autonomous cars are sure to present a lot of challenges and maybe some opportunities for insurers.
In fact, a British insurer recently became the first company in the world to underwrite a ‘driverless car policy.’ U.K. insurer Adrian Flux unveiled the driverless car insurance in June in a bid to grab some publicity.
‘As [we] continue to invest in driverless research in preparation for the growing market for autonomous vehicles in the near future,’ general manager for Adrian Flux general manager Gerry Bucke remarked, ‘we wanted to help provide confidence and clarity around the ongoing debate of ‘who is liable?”
So what exactly does the Adrian Flux policy cover? In addition to standard coverages like comprehensive and collision, their policy protects owners of self-driving cars in the U.K. from the following:
- Loss or damage to your car caused by hacking or attempted hacking of its operating system or other software
- Updates and patches to your car’s operating system, firewall and mapping and navigation systems that have not been successfully installed within 24 hours of you being notified by the manufacturer
- Satellite failure or outages that affect your car’s navigation systems
- Failure of the manufacturer’s software or failure of any other authorized in-car software
- Loss or damage caused by failing when able to use manual override to avoid an accident in the event of a software or mechanical failure
Read more: Uber makes big move toward wide deployment of self-driving cars
