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How much does Tesla insurance cost?

Insurance for a Tesla is often expensive, but we found Tesla’s own car insurance product was the cheapest option for getting coverage.

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By

Andrew HurstSenior Editor & Licensed Auto Insurance ExpertAndrew Hurst is a senior editor at Policygenius who has spent his entire career writing about life, disability, home, auto, and health insurance. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Forbes, USA Today, NPR, Mic, Insurance Business Magazine, and Property Casualty 360.

Reviewed by

Ian Bloom, CFP®, RLP®Ian Bloom, CFP®, RLP®Certified Financial PlannerIan Bloom, CFP®, RLP®, is a certified financial planner and a member of the Financial Review Council at Policygenius. Previously, he was a financial advisor at MetLife and MassMutual.

Updated|5 min read

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Car insurance for a Tesla costs more than it does for other vehicles, partly because of high repair costs. On average, we found that the cost of insurance for a Tesla is $239 per month, or $2,869 per year.  

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We found that the best way to get the cheapest car insurance for your Tesla is by getting Tesla’s own car insurance, if it’s available in your area. Tesla car insurance uses your car’s features to track your driving behavior and offers cheaper insurance rates to the safest drivers.

How much is insurance on a Tesla?

Insurance on a Tesla costs $239 per month, or $2,869 per year on average. That’s $101 more expensive per month than the overall average cost of car insurance, but it’s more in line with the typical cost to insure an electric vehicle. The cost of Tesla car insurance is only $33 more per month than the average cost of car insurance for an EV.

At an average of $1,030 a year, we found that State Farm is the cheapest company for most Tesla drivers (assuming that you can’t get Tesla’s own car insurance in your state).

A bar graph showing the cheapest companies for Tesla car insurance.

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Aside from Tesla’s own insurance, USAA and MAPFRE are the cheapest companies for insuring a Tesla. However, USAA is only available to drivers who are in the military and their families, and MAPFRE is only available in 19 states.

Company

Monthly cost

Annual difference from average

USAA*

$140

-$1,183

MAPFRE

$143

-$1,155

State Farm

$153

-$1,030

Auto-Owners

$156

-$993

Nationwide

$158

-$971

Erie

$164

-$899

NJM

$173

-$789

COUNTRY

$175

-$769

Farm Bureau

$180

-$704

American Family

$187

-$624

Amica

$189

-$601

Travelers

$204

-$418

GEICO

$211

-$336

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USAA is only available to members of the military, veterans, and their families.

How much is insurance for a Tesla vs. other cars?

Insurance for a Tesla, like other electric cars, is higher than average. But compared to the cost of other electric vehicles, especially more affordable models, the cost of insurance for a Tesla is still more expensive.

Vehicle

Average monthly cost

Average annual cost

Tesla Model Y

$248

$2,974

Tesla Model 3

$231

$2,771

Chevrolet Bolt EV

$174

$2,085

Nissan Leaf

$170

$2,040

Read more about how the type of car you have affects your insurance rates

Why is the cost of Tesla insurance so high?

Electric vehicles generally cost more to replace or repair after an accident, so they generally cost more to insure. But insurance for Teslas tends to be even higher than it is for other EVs.

Insurance for a Tesla is high (even among electric cars) because Teslas can be more difficult and costly to repair than other EVs. Like other high-end cars, you can’t repair a Tesla at any body shop. Damaged Teslas have to be repaired at a certified Tesla Service Center or by a Tesla technician that’s trained to work with the car’s high-tech systems.

The material that Tesla’s are made out of also makes the cars more expensive to repair (and insure). Like other electric vehicles, Tesla uses aluminum or an aluminum-steel hybrid for its frames to reduce its weight. While aluminum makes cars lighter, it’s a lot more expensive than steel.

→ Learn more about car insurance rates by car

Average cost to insure a Tesla in every state

There are some states where it’s cheaper to insure a Tesla than others. While the average cost of insurance for a Tesla is $239 per month, in North Carolina it costs an average of just $129 a month to insure a Tesla.

If you’re finding that insurance for a Tesla is too expensive where you live, we recommend comparing insurance quotes from more than one company before you buy a policy.

State

Average monthly cost

Average annual cost

Alabama

$261

$3,135

Alaska

$211

$2,534

Arizona

$227

$2,720

Arkansas

$284

$3,408

California

$274

$3,283

Colorado

$267

$3,202

Connecticut

$261

$3,136

Delaware

$261

$3,137

District of Columbia

$285

$3,419

Florida

$343

$4,116

Georgia

$223

$2,675

Hawaii

$145

$1,741

Idaho

$170

$2,045

Illinois

$207

$2,481

Indiana

$184

$2,206

Iowa

$188

$2,256

Kansas

$267

$3,201

Kentucky

$297

$3,567

Louisiana

$360

$4,315

Maine

$171

$2,050

Maryland

$251

$3,011

Massachusetts

$224

$2,694

Michigan

$336

$4,029

Minnesota

$208

$2,499

Mississippi

$315

$3,783

Missouri

$251

$3,014

Montana

$265

$3,184

Nebraska

$283

$3,391

Nevada

$310

$3,718

New Hampshire

$182

$2,187

New Jersey

$258

$3,096

New Mexico

$228

$2,741

New York

$291

$3,486

North Carolina

$129

$1,542

North Dakota

$216

$2,595

Ohio

$152

$1,825

Oklahoma

$263

$3,161

Oregon

$180

$2,163

Pennsylvania

$253

$3,035

Rhode Island

$283

$3,399

South Carolina

$251

$3,010

South Dakota

$227

$2,726

Tennessee

$209

$2,508

Texas

$244

$2,924

Utah

$208

$2,491

Vermont

$177

$2,124

Virginia

$256

$3,075

Washington

$224

$2,687

West Virginia

$264

$3,167

Wisconsin

$168

$2,018

Wyoming

$231

$2,767

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Full-coverage car insurance rates for a Tesla.

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What is Tesla Insurance?

Tesla also offers its own insurance that you can buy directly from the automaker. We found that, if you can get it, Tesla Insurance is the best insurance for Teslas. That’s because Tesla Insurance uses information about your real-time driving to adjust what you pay, which means discounted rates for safe drivers.

Tesla Insurance is also our top choice for Teslas because of how convenient it is for drivers. You can purchase Tesla Insurance through the same app that you use to access and monitor your vehicle. 

If your car is damaged, you can easily get assistance, submit photos of your car’s damage, and file a claim for repairs with your Tesla auto insurance using the same app.

Right now, you can only get Tesla Insurance in these states:

  • Arizona

  • California

  • Colorado

  • Illinois

  • Maryland

  • Minnesota

  • Nevada

  • Ohio

  • Oregon

  • Texas

  • Utah

  • Virginia

What does Tesla Insurance cost?

We found that Tesla Insurance is generally cheaper than going through a standard car insurance company to insure your Tesla.

If it’s available near you (and if you’re a good driver), Tesla itself estimates that drivers save between 20% and 40% with Tesla Insurance. The safest drivers could see savings of 30% to 60%.

In our analysis of car insurance rates for Teslas in Texas, we found that Tesla Insurance is one of the cheapest options in the state. Tesla Insurance was $953 cheaper than the average rate to insure a Tesla in Texas.

A bar graph showing the cost of Tesla Insurance.

As of October 2022, Tesla only underwrites its own insurance policies in Colorado, Oregon, and Virginia. That means that in other states where you can get Tesla Insurance, Tesla partners with another insurance company for its policies.

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How does Tesla insurance work?

Tesla Insurance sets your rates primarily on your real-time driving behaviors, just like other usage-based insurance programs. Rates also depend on how much you drive, which model you have, where you live, your coverage, and how many Teslas you own.

When you sign up for Tesla Insurance, Tesla will monitor your driving using your vehicle’s built-in software. Every month your insurance premium changes based on what’s called your Safety Score.

Your Safety Score shows up as a number on a scale of 0 to 100. It’s calculated based on five factors that tell Tesla how likely it is that you’ll be in a collision. These are:

  • Your number of forward collision warnings per 1,000 miles

  • How often you brake suddenly instead of gradually

  • Your speed while turning and changing lanes

  • The amount of time you spend driving too closely to the car in front of you

  • How often your Autopilot system disengages because you’re inattentive

If you drive poorly over the month, your Safety Score will decrease and your rates will go up. With Tesla Insurance, most drivers are expected to have a Safety Score of at least 80. Under that, the cost of Tesla car insurance will get noticeably more expensive.

Drivers in California can’t get a Safety Score, even though Tesla Insurance is available. California drivers will just lose out on the telematics discount part of Tesla Insurance, but can still monitor their policy and make claims from their car’s app.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Tesla have its own car insurance?

Yes, you can get Tesla Insurance if you live in any of the states where it’s offered. The perks of getting insurance from Tesla include discounted rates for real-time driving behavior and the ability to manage your policy in Tesla’s car app.

What is the best auto insurance for a Tesla?

The best auto insurance for a Tesla is Tesla’s own car insurance. If you can’t get Tesla Insurance where you live, State Farm is likely to have the best and cheapest insurance for your Tesla.

Does insurance go down with Tesla?

Yes, your insurance rates can go down if you have Tesla Insurance. Driving safely raises your Safety Score and lowers your monthly rates under the Tesla Insurance program. But if you have to get insurance from another company, the cost of insurance for your Tesla can be very expensive compared to other cars.

Which is the cheapest Tesla model to insure?

The Model 3 is the cheapest Tesla to insure. We found that the average monthly cost of car insurance for Tesla’s Model 3 is just $231. The Model 3 is also the cheapest Tesla model to buy.

Methodology

We found the cost of Tesla car insurance by analyzing public rate data from every ZIP code in the country. Our rates were provided by Quadrant Information Services, and were for a 30-year-old male driver’s 2017 Toyota Camry with 10,000 miles per year. The policy was for:

  • Bodily injury liability: $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident

  • Property damage liability: $50,000 per accident

  • Uninsured/underinsured motorist: $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident

  • Comprehensive: $500 deductible

  • Collision: $500 deductible

We found the cost of Tesla Insurance using a sample driver living in Texas. In Texas, the company Redpoint Mutual underwrites Tesla Insurance. We calculated the average cost to insure a Tesla in Texas using the same coverage limits as our national analysis.

Author

Andrew Hurst is a senior editor at Policygenius who has spent his entire career writing about life, disability, home, auto, and health insurance. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Forbes, USA Today, NPR, Mic, Insurance Business Magazine, and Property Casualty 360.

Expert reviewer

Ian Bloom, CFP®, RLP®, is a certified financial planner and a member of the Financial Review Council at Policygenius. Previously, he was a financial advisor at MetLife and MassMutual.

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