The Unexpectedly High Expense For One Of Tesla's Most Popular EVs
Tesla is not just the best-selling EV brand in the United States, but it's also the best-selling luxury car brand. In other words, more Americans are buying Tesla vehicles than BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, and Audi. Also, Tesla made a net income of $12.6 billion in 2022, which is a new record for the company.
The Model Y was Tesla's most popular vehicle model in 2022, according to CNBC. It's probably popular because it's a compact luxury SUV with a price range that is affordable for most Americans. At the moment, you can buy the Tesla Model Y Long Range 5-seat variant at $52,990 — this means it qualifies for the new EV tax credit. The Tesla Model Y is also cheaper to maintain than most luxury vehicles. However, as much as the Tesla Model Y is a popular model, it's more expensive to insure compared to other luxury vehicles. How much does it cost?
The Tesla Model Y is almost twice as expensive to insure than most cars
According to ValuePenguin, the annual insurance cost of the Tesla Model Y in the U.S. is $3,110. That makes the Tesla Model Y more expensive to insure than most EVs such as the Ford F-150 Lightning, Polestar 2, Rivian R1T, and Hyundai Ioniq. Considering that the average cost of car insurance in the U.S. is $1,780, it means the Tesla Model Y is almost twice as expensive to insure than most cars. Only the Porsche Taycan is the more expensive EV to insure than the Model Y, with an annual cost of $3,576.
However, if we compare the Model Y with other models from Tesla, it's actually the cheapest model to insure. More succinctly, the average cost to insure a Model S per year is $4,956, while the Model X adds up to $4,275 (via ValuePenguin). Even the cheapest Tesla vehicle, the Model 3, could cost you $300 more per year to insure than the Model Y.
In fact, you're more likely to spend more to insure a Tesla than any other luxury car brand in the U.S., except Maserati. This is because it could cost you an arm and a leg to repair a Tesla EV. For instance, a rear-end collision repair on a Tesla Model Y could cost between $10,000 to $20,000. Nevertheless, you could spend less to cover your Model Y if you purchase Tesla Insurance, which is cheaper than other options.