Connect with us
Tesla-repairs Tesla-repairs

News

Tesla repair costs are causing insurance providers to write off low-mileage EVs: report

(Credit: teslarepairs/Instagram)

Published

2 years ago

on

While Elon Musk noted during the Q4 and FY 2022 earnings call that data from Tesla Insurance is helping the company minimize vehicle repair costs, the story seems different for Teslas that are covered by other insurance providers. As per a recent report, even low-mileage Teslas are already being written off by insurance companies. 

Elon Musk described Tesla’s efforts to lower its vehicles’ cost of repair in the recent earnings call. “We’ve actually adjusted the design of the car and made changes in the software of the car to minimize the cost of repair… So it’s giving us this really good feedback before, again, reducing cost,” Musk said. 

Outside Tesla Insurance’s coverage, the situation is different, at least according to a Reuters analysis. Data from Copart and IAA, which are among the largest salvage auction houses in the US, indicated that many “totaled” Model Y units listed for auction in December and January had fewer than 10,000 miles on their odometers. Considering that these vehicles were bought prior to Tesla’s price cuts earlier this month, the retail prices of the cars were about $60,000 to over $80,000. 

Insurance companies usually consider a vehicle a total loss when the cost of repairing it is deemed too high. Interestingly enough, out of the 15 Giga Texas-made Model Y Long Range vehicles that were part of the publication’s analysis and declared as total losses from June to November, 14 had fewer than 10,000 miles on their odometers.

These include a Giga Texas-made 2022 Model Y Long Range, which was listed by IAA with front collision damage in early January. The vehicle had a retail price of $61,388 and an estimated repair cost of $50,388. Another Model Y, which was listed with side collision damage, had a retail price of $72,667 and an estimated repair cost of $43,814.

Advertisement

As per Reuters’ analysis, several prominent insurance companies such as State Farm, Geico, Progressive, and Farmers, are among the providers that have considered low-mileage damaged Teslas too expensive to repair.  

Considering the estimates for the repair of damaged Teslas, it is no surprise that some insurance companies are opting to write off the damaged vehicles as total losses. It’s difficult to argue, however, that such a strategy is wasteful. At this point, it seems like the best-case scenario for Tesla is to ramp up the expansion of its insurance service. This way, its owners are not burdened by insurance providers that do not seem to fully understand their vehicles. 

Elon Musk said as much during the fourth quarter and full-year 2022 earnings call last week, when he explained how Tesla Insurance is giving the company a good feedback loop on how to optimize the costs of its vehicles’ repair.

“It is also giving us a good feedback loop into minimizing the cost of repair of Teslas — for all Teslas worldwide — because we obviously want to minimize the cost of repairing a Tesla if it’s in a collision… And previously, we didn’t actually have good insight into that because the other insurance companies would cover the cost. And actually, the cost in some cases were unreasonably high,” Musk said. 

The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, contact me at maria@teslarati.com or via Twitter @Writer_01001101.

Advertisement
Related Topics:

Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

Advertisement
Comments

News

“Worthy of respect:” Six-seat Model Y L acknowledged by Tesla China’s biggest rivals

Tesla China’s biggest competitors seem to be welcoming the impending arrival of the upcoming six-seater.

Published

45 minutes ago

on

July 17, 2025

By

Credit: Tesla Asia/X

Tesla’s upcoming launch of the Model Y L in China has drawn praise from the CEOs of rival automakers Nio and Li Auto. While the upcoming extended all-electric crossover has the potential to make a huge impact in the domestic Chinese auto market, some of Tesla China’s biggest competitors seem to be welcoming the impending arrival of the upcoming six-seater.

NIO and Li Auto CEO react

Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li responded to Tesla’s announcement on Weibo, stating that with improvements in charging, battery swap infrastructure, and continued innovation in technology and product design, the era of large-space electrified SUVs has fully arrived. He referenced Nio’s sub-brand Onvo and its new L90 SUV as a product born from this shift in the market and encouraged the industry to “power up together,” as noted in a report from CNEV Post.

Li Auto CEO Li Xiang also weighed in, calling the Model Y L a “six-seat pure electric SUV worthy of respect.” He also suggested that consumers interested in vehicles priced between RMB 200,000 and RMB 300,000 should keep an eye on it. He also mentioned his company’s upcoming Li i6, a five-seat all-electric SUV that’s expected to debut in September, as a strong option for buyers not seeking third row seats.

New Model Y L

Tesla confirmed on its official Weibo account that the Model Y L will officially launch in China this fall. The vehicle appeared in China’s MIIT regulatory catalog, which revealed that the Model Y L will feature a longer body and extended wheelbase designed to accommodate its new three-row layout. 

The Model Y L measures 4,976 mm in length with a wheelbase of 3,040 mm, compared to the standard five-seat Model Y’s 4,797 mm length and 2,890 mm wheelbase. While Tesla has yet to announce official pricing, industry reports suggest it could be positioned around RMB 400,000. It remains to be seen if the Model Y L will also be produced in the United States and Germany. 

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Elon Musk reveals SpaceX’s target for Starship’s 10th launch

Elon Musk has revealed SpaceX’s target timeline for the next Starship launch, which will be the tenth in program history.

Published

13 hours ago

on

July 16, 2025

By

Credit: SpaceX

Elon Musk has revealed SpaceX’s target timeline for the next Starship launch, which will be the tenth in program history.

Musk says SpaceX is aiming for a timeline of roughly three weeks from now, which would come about ten weeks after the previous launch.

Coincidentally, it would bring the two launches 69 days apart, and if you know anything about Elon Musk, that would be an ideal timeline between two launches.

SpaceX is coming off a test flight in which it lost both the Super Heavy Booster and the Upper Stage in the previous launch. The Super Heavy Booster was lost six minutes and sixteen seconds into the flight, while SpaceX lost communication with the Ship at 46 minutes and 48 seconds.

Musk is aiming for the tenth test flight to take place in early August, he revealed on X:

This will be SpaceX’s fourth test flight of the Starship program in 2025, with each of the previous three flights bringing varying results.

IFT-7 in January brought SpaceX its second successful catch of the Super Heavy Booster in the chopstick arms of the launch tower. The ship was lost after exploding during its ascent over the Turks and Caicos Islands.

IFT-8 was on March 6, and SpaceX caught the booster once again, but the Upper Stage was once again lost.

The most recent flight, IFT-9, took place on May 27 and featured the first reused Super Heavy Booster. However, both the Booster and Upper Stage were lost.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hit SpaceX with a mishap investigation for Flight 9 on May 30.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Elon Musk confirms Tesla is already rolling out a new feature for in-car Grok

Tesla is already making in-car Grok more robust with a simple but effective feature that CEO Elon Musk says is “coming.”

Published

20 hours ago

on

July 16, 2025

By

Credit: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the company will roll out a new feature for in-car Grok as it is rolling out to vehicles for the first time.

Grok was just recently added as a feature to Tesla vehicles within the past week, but owners are already requesting some small changes to make it more convenient to use.

Tesla debuts hands-free Grok AI with update 2025.26: What you need to know

The first is already on the way, Musk confirmed, as WholeMarsBlog requested a simple, but useful feature for Grok as it is used within Tesla vehicles.

Whole Mars requested that “Hey Grok” be used as a wake word, automatically activating the AI assistant without having to touch any buttons. Musk confirmed it is already in development and on the way to vehicles:

This feature is incredibly similar to that of “Hey Siri” with iPhones and other iOS devices. The phone will recognize your voice and hear that prompt, automatically activating Siri. Apple’s assistant will then perform whatever task it is asked to perform. It’s a simple but effective performance feature.

Grok is already getting its first reviews from owners as it rolls out to owners for the first time. It is a long time coming, too. Tesla has been hinting that Grok would be enabled in the vehicles for a while now, and it just started its initial rollout last week.

Grok is available in vehicles with the AMD chip and requires Premium Connectivity or a WiFi connection to use.

Continue Reading

Trending