Is Tesla Motors getting into the car-insurance business?

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has a history of putting his money where his proverbial mouth is. He famously backed the resale value of
early Model S vehicles with his own funds, for example. Now, he’s using some of his company’s money to stand behind the safety advantages of the Autopilot autonomous driving technology. The California-based electric-vehicle maker may be partnering with a couple of insurance companies overseas
to start offering policies on the luxury vehicles. Specifically, drivers in
Australia and
Hong Kong may soon be able to buy into this Tesla-backed insurance option,
Electrek says. The
InsureMyTesla websites weren’t revealing much as of this morning.

Tesla is apparently working with AXA General Insurance in Hong Kong, and with QBE Insurance in Australia. Australian policies start at about AUD $1,200 ($900) a year, which on the surface seems to be a pretty good deal to insure an $100,000-plus car. Some of the plans even offer full-vehicle replacement for Teslas that are less than three years old.

The new service comes at an important time because human error causes about 90 percent of all car accidents, and Tesla continues to make its case that Autopilot and other autonomous-driving features will prevent a lot more accidents than they cause. And for those mechanically-inept among us, the policies can also cover Tesla Wall Connector devices in case those get trashed.

A Google search does turn up a revealing
InsureMyTesla PDF (
here), with details like a maximum of $2,500 per policy period for lost keys and broken locks. But, clicking on the two
InsureMyTesla sites directs users to Tesla’s Support page. Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from
AutoblogGreen about the apparent new program.

As for Autopilot, there have been a string of admittedly high-profile accidents – one was reported
in China earlier this month – in which the driver blamed Autopilot. The company has generally said the drivers are mistaking Autopilot for a fully-autonomous driving system or that they thought it was on when it wasn’t.

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