According to a new report, insuring a Tesla Model 3 is almost as expensive as insuring a Porsche 911.
Gabi Personal Insurance Agency found that the average annual insurance cost for a Model 3 owner is $2,814 (almost $235 per month) versus a $2,849 average ($237 monthly) for 911 owners, an annual difference of just $35, and a monthly difference of under $3. This is higher than the comparable Chevrolet Volt, which costs an average of $2,102 to insure for a year, or about 75 percent as much.
“In the last month we had more and more people coming in with Model 3, and they were all complaining about high insurance costs,” said Gabi CEO Hanno Fichtner in an interview with Automotive News. “We found cheaper deals for them, but not as cheap as we thought they would be. We even had customers tell us they are returning their Model 3 due to the high running costs.”
The insurance company also found that the Tesla Model S and X 75D cost nearly as much to insure as an Audi R8 supercar, at $3,410 and $3,519 annual averages respectively. These high costs are attributed to pricey replacement parts and Tesla-specific body shops. Collision insurance also made up a higher proportion of what a Tesla owner typically pays, making up 49 to 59 percent of costs to the owner, versus only 40 for the average Porsche owner.
Tesla offers an insurance plan of its own called InsureMyTesla, but customers complain of extreme monthly rates, which Tesla CEO Elon Musk acknowledged in July.
AAA lumped higher premiums onto Tesla owners in July of 2017, citing higher rate of claims, which Tesla protested, describing AAA’s statement as “not reflective of reality.”
Elon Musk has also complained via twitter about disproportionate media coverage of accidents involving Tesla products and those of rival automakers, and he may have a point, since the first question on the collective automotive media’s lips after each crash is “was Autopilot on?” Considering Tesla’s willingness to lean on customer misinterpretation of Autopilot’s definition and function, this may be a case of you made your bed, now lie in it.