At the same time, Musk said Tesla was continuing to work on design and software changes to its electric vehicles that would lower repair costs and overall insurance premiums, Reuters first reported.
“We want to minimize the cost of repairing a Tesla if it is in a collision,” he said.
Despite the sticker price of their repair, Tesla’s EVs have enjoyed consistently high demand, which Musk described as far ahead of Tesla’s ability to produce them.
In 2022, we produce and deliver more than 1.3 million vehicles 💪
In the fourth quarter we achieved our highest quarterly revenue, operating income and net income → https://t.co/6WkUryAhKO pic.twitter.com/aOzmL76uja
—Tesla (@Tesla) January 25, 2023
But a new analysis of data from Reuters shows another side to the story, where crashed low-mileage Teslas like the Tesla Model Y are frequently showing up at salvage auction houses.
The data showed that insurers had totaled more than 120 Model Ys after collisions, meaning insurers decided it would be cheaper to scrap the Tesla EV entirely and reimburse the owner rather than pay for it to be fixed. These insurers then listed them at auction from December 2022 to early January of this year.
Copart and IAA, two of the nation’s largest salvage auction houses, scanned the odometers of salvaged and sold Tesla EVs and found that the “vast majority” of them had driven fewer than 10,000 miles before the collision and overall. reported Reuters.
Retail prices for Tesla electric vehicles range from $60,000 to over $80,000. An Austin-built 2022 Model Y long-range electric vehicle involved in a head-on collision and listed by IAA earlier this year had a retail price of $61,388 and an estimated repair cost of $50,388.
A second Austin-built Model Y, this time involved in a side collision and listed by IAA, had a retail price of $72,667 and an estimated repair cost of $43,814.
Copart and IAA auction listings only indicate the location of the collision on the vehicle body, either the front, rear, or side of the vehicle, usually accompanied by a post-accident photo of the vehicle. While the listings generally do not reveal other details about the damage sustained by the vehicle, Copart sometimes includes the names of the companies that repurchased the wrecked vehicles and included them in the auction. Companies that totaled and listed Tesla’s electric vehicles included insurers State Farm, Geico, Progressive and Farmers, Reuters reported.
Of the 15 long-range Tesla Model Y vehicles built at the company’s Austin, Texas, plant from June through November 2022 before they crashed and went up for auction, all but one had fewer than 10,000 miles on the odometer, Reuters said. .
Tesla debuted its own insurance arm, Tesla Insurance, in 2019 with the promise of insurance rates nearly one-third (30%) lower than the competition. Chief Financial Officer Zachar Kirkhorn said Tesla Insurance was generating $300 million in premiums a year, growing faster than Tesla’s own vehicle business.
