Photo: BBLFG / chickenAd0b0 on Reddit / autoevolution edit
Last year, Tesla caused some ruckus among people who bought its cars and the insurance coverage it provides in 12 states. Telling customers that driving at night would eventually raise their premiums did not bode well with those who thought the service would remain cheaper than the competition. But now, an update might make the buyers feel better for sticking around.
Back in November 2022, Tesla decided to introduce a somewhat controversial update for the Safety Score Beta. The EV maker told customers that they should not drive between 10 PM and 4 AM because “a dangerous driving environment” could statistically be encountered more often than during daytime.
If you are a Tesla customer or investor but not a Tesla Insurance buyer, then this does not matter a whole lot to you. But for those who paid the premium, it meant that they had to adjust their schedule and figure out a commute that does not lead to larger monthly payments.
Essentially, Tesla’s insurance division told its customers (except those living in California, where the Safety Score Beta is active “for educational purposes only”) that driving at night would be more expensive. Some accepted this update, others immediately started looking around for better offers.
The EV maker might have figured out that its five-month-old policy is a bit too much and has now refined it. Safety Score Beta 2.0 accepts that driving a little after 10 PM is not as dangerous as driving later in the night. So, if you run your Tesla between 10 PM and 11 PM, it’ll affect your score less. But if you drive between 3 AM and 4 AM, then your premium will increase consistently.
The software, which most insurance companies can only dream of, monitors every second you are behind the wheel after 10 PM and before 4 AM and divides it by the number of seconds spent driving during the entire day. If most of your driving happens at night, your Safety Score will be severely impacted, but only to a maximum of 29.3%, which is this factor’s value in the formula used by the automaker to establish your customer profile. Besides that, keep in mind that the premium is also affected by where you live and the model you drive.
Photo: Gjeebs on YouTube
This may sound a little bit like we’re in a Big Brother episode but don’t forget that Tesla Insurance does not need your credit score, age, gender, marital status, and accident history to establish how much you have to pay for insurance. Even better, the 12% discount for insuring more than one Tesla was kept with this major change.
But besides the nighttime driving update, Tesla also changed the Hard Braking Safety Factor. Now, customers won’t be penalized when they apply more pressure on the brake pedal to stop at a traffic light that’s about to turn red.
Safety Score Beta 2.0 now also includes Excessive Speeding and Unbuckled Driving as Safety Factors. This means you should not accelerate over 85 mph (137 kph) and the seatbelt must be buckled every time the car’s speed is over 10 mph (16 kph).
Finally, another modification brought forward by Safety Score 2.0 is that when you buy Tesla Insurance, the premium is calculated based on your own estimated mileage for the first two months. Starting with the third month, the actual mileage driven in the past six months will be used to establish your premium.
Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one. Full profile
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