# Is California being unreasonably optimistic. (Electric Vehicles) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 10, 2023, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-california-being-unreasonably-optimistic-electric-vehicles/989866 "2023-09-10T04:33:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-california-being-unreasonably-optimistic-electric-vehicles/989866/241 "2024-01-29T17:04:41Z")
Do you have comprehensive and collision insurance? I wouldn’t expect the liability insurance to be very different. Until recently, the US industry didn’t even look at “what kind of car do you drive” as a rating variable for liability coverage. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-california-being-unreasonably-optimistic-electric-vehicles/989866/242 "2024-01-29T17:07:45Z")
Yes to both. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-california-being-unreasonably-optimistic-electric-vehicles/989866/243 "2024-01-29T17:09:49Z")
That’s the only part that (likely) matters. And that’s a small increase if you are trading up from a cheap old clunker to a new car. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-california-being-unreasonably-optimistic-electric-vehicles/989866/244 "2024-01-29T17:17:32Z")
My old Subie takes offense to your classification! 😉 I was pleasantly surprised at how little the insurance would go up after hearing the “expensive insurance” scare tactic so much. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-california-being-unreasonably-optimistic-electric-vehicles/989866/245 "2024-01-29T18:53:36Z")
I guess situations vary. From Rates.ca: > [@](#): > > We looked at recent quotes drivers received after using RATESDOTCA to find out how much it costs to insure a Tesla. Here’s what we found: > > - A Model Y costs about $2,761 per year. > - A Model 3 costs approximately $3,554 to insure per year. > - A Model X costs about $4,215 to insure per year. It looks like your Model Y is the cheapest Tesla to insure. The cost for the Model 3 is just about twice what we pay to insure both of our cars together. Mind you, we have perfect driving histories and no claim history. > **[Compare Tesla Car Insurance Quotes Online - RATESDOTCA](https://rates.ca/insurance-quotes/auto/tesla)** > > Compare Tesla car insurance quotes from 50+ Canadian insurance providers to save money on car insurance. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-california-being-unreasonably-optimistic-electric-vehicles/989866/246 "2024-01-29T19:00:32Z")
That number for the Y is over TWICE what my real life quote is. Less then $1200 for a year with maxed out coverage on the liability and uninsured. Again, only $15/month more than same coverage on our 12 year old Subaru (you can do the math to see we were paying a little over $800/yr for our Subie). Maybe Canada is just screwed up for insurance costs. My real life data point shows Teslas aren’t expensive to insure here in my part of the US. Edit to add: My bad, it is $30/month more (I was mixing 6 and 12 month terms). But less than $1200/year for maxed out coverage on a Tesla. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-california-being-unreasonably-optimistic-electric-vehicles/989866/247 "2024-01-29T19:07:30Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > with maxed out coverage on the liability and uninsured. Again, that’s unlikely to be relevant for the differential between any two cars. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-california-being-unreasonably-optimistic-electric-vehicles/989866/248 "2024-01-29T20:01:04Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Again, that’s unlikely to be relevant for the differential between any two cars. True, but the $1200 per year with those maxed out is relevant for the Sam’s point about Tesla’s being more expensive and the average costs provided. My $1200/yr isn’t due to skimpy minimal coverage. It’s maxed out coverage (deductibles for collision & comprehensive are a bit higher). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-california-being-unreasonably-optimistic-electric-vehicles/989866.md?page=12)