Tesla Auto Insurance

I’m not sure who drops more wild headlines Donald Trump or Elon Musk. Trump seems to drop things on twitter without much thought. Elon Musk seems to drop ideas that seem crazy and then he actually delivers some version of this crazy.  Do you remember the Hyperloop under LA? Come on, I thought that was a joke, until I saw a Tesla driving along a bumpy tunnel under LA and I said to myself "wow, he really did it". 
His most recent drop was that Tesla is going to offer auto insurance for their vehicles. This may not be the wildest headline but it got my attention. What will this actually entail?  We don’t know yet. But, how could this work?  Let's take a look.
Tesla could go the route of Volvo. Volvo as part of some of their leases offer insurance included. Now, this isn’t Volvo insurance. It is a policy underwritten by Liberty Mutual. It includes liability coverage at 250/500 with a 500 deductible for the car. How much would the insurance cost you if you were to separate it out? Well, I’d imagine there are winners and losers when buying it through Volvo. Some people are saving money, but there are also some people paying more for the insurance. Any time you average out the rates across a large group unless you fall into the median you are either saving or paying more.
That would be one option for Tesla. Just hire a large auto insurance company to offer a policy across a broad spectrum of people and include it as part of a lease agreement. That would take all the work out of Tesla’s hands. They could slap their name on the policy but it would be underwritten by a company that knows the market and loss ratios in each state.
Another option would be to actually start your own insurance company. That would require a lot of work on Tesla's part. They could try and keep it simple by outsourcing claims adjusters, customer service and underwriting. I'm sure there are companies that would be happy to develop a product for the company. It could be a lengthy process to get licensed to do business in each state. Every state has their own insurance commission that Tesla would have to file with.  
Now how would it work? Would they offer a one price fits all package? Would you be able to select your coverage? What about the other cars in the household? Would you be able to include your Ford on the Tesla policy or would you need to carry two policies? Can you include all the drivers in the house? 
This is a complicated puzzle to put together. We will see what Elon Musk has in mind. Hey, if he can figure out a way to get his Tesla roadster to fly into space I’m sure this isn’t the most complicated thing on his plate. Is it worth it and is the return great enough for the companies bottom line? We will wait to see.
Until then, if you want to get a quote on earthly insurance give me a call at 951-395-0754. www.socalinsured.com