A New York insurance company is extending an offer of discounted rates for drivers who make use of Tesla's full self-driving feature.
Lemonade Inc., a New York-based digital insurance company, has expanded its Tesla-focused autonomous car insurance product to Indiana. The product gives Tesla owners 50% off each mile driven with full self-driving supervised.
"Driving is changing. Insurance should too," company officials wrote on its website. "Tesla full self-driving is twice as safe, so Lemonade takes 50% off every mile driven with FSD. That means lower premiums for you and safer roads for everyone."
Tesla Inc., an Austin, Texas-based electric vehicle and energy company, describes full self-driving supervised as an advanced driver-assistance system. Tesla’s Canadian support page states that the feature requires active driver supervision and does not make the vehicle autonomous.
“Today, we’re bringing Lemonade Autonomous Car to Tesla drivers in Indiana,” said Wininger, president and co-founder of Lemonade. “This first-of-its-kind insurance product cuts Tesla’s cost of ownership by slashing insurance prices in half for miles driven with FSD (supervised).”
The product uses Tesla’s Fleet API, with customer permission, to separate full self-driving miles from manually driven miles. The data is also used to assess the software version installed in the vehicle, sensor precision and other risk factors.
The Indiana launch follows earlier availability in Arizona and Oregon. Lemonade’s existing car insurance product is available in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.
In Canada, there seems to be little interest in offering similar deals. Some organizations are trying to pave the way for a regulatory system to be set up.
Ontario’s automated vehicle pilot guide requires participating vehicles to carry $5 million in liability coverage, or $8 million if the vehicle seats eight or more passengers. The guide also states that applicants must report collisions involving automated vehicles within 10 days.
Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec, the Quebec City-based public auto insurer and road-safety agency, states that autonomous vehicles are not sold to the public or in widespread operation in Quebec. It states that road testing is authorized only through a pilot project, except for Level 3 vehicles authorized for sale in Canada.
Some organizations are seeking to implement new rules related to insuring AVs. In its past coverage, the Insurance Bureau of Canada has published three recommendations: the creation of insurance policies covering both driver negligence and automated technology; a legislated data-sharing arrangement involving vehicle manufacturers, owners and insurers; and updated federal vehicle safety standards for technology and cybersecurity.
