Tesla plans to put Insurance, FSD subscription directly into smartphone app

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Tesla plans to put Insurance, FSD subscription directly into smartphone app

ByJoey Klender
Posted on June 7, 2021
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-smartphone-app-insurance-fsd-subscription-integration/

Tesla is planning to put its Insurance program and upcoming Full Self-Driving subscription directly into its Smartphone app, according to a software engineer who recently reverse-engineered parts of the automaker’s application.

Reddit u/Callump01 dug into the Tesla Smartphone App that owners use to do anything from control the vehicle’s climate to performing Smart Summon.

After reverse-engineering the app, Callump01 found several new things, including Tesla Insurance’s planned integration, a Safety Ratings feature, and a Simulator that will allow owners to see how driving changes will affect their rates.

TESLA INSURANCE INTEGRATION: SAFETY RATINGS AND SIMULATOR
Tesla will have its Insurance program directly integrated into the application, according to Callump01. It will be located in its own defined section, and will be more readily available to owners, and could save time by helping avoid time-consuming phone calls. Many insurance companies, like GEICO, have apps where everything from filing a claim to getting insurance for a new car can be done from the touch of your fingertips.

There will also be a new “Safety Ratings” section. This will track your vehicle and is directly linked to your insurance if you use Tesla’s in-house program.

u/Callump01 said (via r/TeslaMotors):

“It will show the number of hours you’ve driven, how often you use AutoPilot, ABS events, forward collision warnings, autosteer strikeouts, accelerator variance, and many other metrics on both a per-trip and monthly basis, which you’ll be able to see in a neat graphical interface. You are given a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ rating (though it is unclear whether that rating will be visible to the end user) and, from what I can tell, appears to be exclusive to HW2 and above and software version 2021.4.12 is required.”

Additionally, a “Simulator” section will allow owners to adjust factors related to categories that will affect rates. These include, but are not limited to ABS Activation, Hours Driven, Forced Autopilot Disengagements, Forward Collision Warnings, Unsafe Following Time, and Intensity of Acceleration and Braking.

u/Callump01 adds:

“Performance indicators are based on an average for that factor. The more factors you get into the green the more you’ll save on your premium. Your actual premium will not change more than 50% in a month based on your driving behavior.”

This feature is similar to Allstate’s Drivewise device, a simple plug-in that tracks your safe-driving habits and adjusts your monthly rates based on several factors like speed, braking, time of day, and mileage.

FULL SELF-DRIVING SUBSCRIPTION
It appears that Tesla will also allow owners to control the upcoming release of the FSD Subscription program that the automaker has talked about for some time.

Elon Musk has said on several occasions that Tesla’s FSD subscription will be available in Q2 2021. However, with only a few weeks left in the quarter, it is unclear whether Tesla will achieve this timeframe.

However, it is definitely in the works based on what was found in the App related to the subscription feature.

Firstly, there will be an option to be refunded if the program isn’t right for you or if there was an accidental purchase. Tesla will request information from the purchaser on why they would like a refund.

There are also mentions of a “Weekend Mode” and “Travel Mode” for the subscription, but there are no more details on what these features will provide to owners. Billing periods appear to be monthly, according to what was seen.

Details are relatively sparse as of now, especially considering the Subscription hasn’t formally been released by Tesla yet. However, it is exciting to know that Tesla plans to make its app more robust for owners, allowing more ease of access to certain features.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, or be sure to email me at [email protected] or on Twitter @KlenderJoey.

 

[CyberMoose]

I was just talking to a friend about this insurance option that Tesla wants to do and one thing that came to my mind is the speed limit. I've always felt that the safest option when driving on a highway is to keep up with traffic, but I know some stretches of highway in Canada (mostly up north a bit) where the speed limit is 100km/h but i've seen times where pretty much everyone doing around 120km/h.

I absolutely love the idea that Tesla has for this, I just hope that Tesla has certain allowances for speed above the limit, especially when the speed of traffic around you is above the limit, before the app decides to mark that against you. I think overall, it will certainly help safe drivers save money even if there are a few situations that the app judges you wrong, and it will be interesting to see how much it can improve when the vehicles ability to recognize everything around the vehicle also improves.

 

[John K]

I dislike subscriptions. I hope this applies to those who did not purchase the FSD option

 

[CyberMoose]

I dislike subscriptions. I hope this applies to those who did not purchase the FSD option

Well this is entirely tied to Tesla insurance. It's been said that this will be optional and only for people who have insurance through Tesla. it's not a subscription, just insurance; I'm also pretty sure it'll only save people money since I doubt reckless drivers would opt in to this. The only way a safe driver is going to pay more when they opt in is if they are stupid, or if they get into an at fault accident but if they do that, they would already have increased insurance because of it.

Also speaking of the FSD subscription option that is upcoming, I'm actually curious if FSD might eventually be subscription only. If we look at early Teslas, Premium Connectivity and Supercharging were unlimited with the cost of the vehicle. Now we have FSD that costs extra but you get it for life.

I wouldn't be surprised if Tesla eventually made FSD subscription only when it gets more advanced. Tesla would make more money in the long run and it makes sense for something that is continually updated to have a monthly cost.

 

[DarinCT]

Hmmm... If I'm reading between the lines correctly, every once in awhile I drop the hammer and then that'll show up in that months insurance bill...?

Eff that.

 

[CyberMoose]

Hmmm... If I'm reading between the lines correctly, every once in awhile I drop the hammer and then that'll show up in that months insurance bill...?

Eff that.

Well two things about that.

For one I would assume the system can tell if you are on a public road or private property like a track designed for something like that.

Secondly, if you are someone who wants to use the Plaid Launch function to go down the on ramp onto the highway, which someone just recently posted a video of them doing on youtube. Or maybe you like to accelerate fast off a red light, drive faster than others on a highway, text while driving which tesla will soon be able to monitor. Well you probably don't want to opt into that option because you obviously should be paying more for insurance and don't want your insurance company to find out

Personally I am a safe driver on public roads. If I want to drive fast, I swap the tires on my car and take it to the track where it is safe for me to drive fast. I'm always happy when I pull up to someone at a red light that was speeding, passing people unsafely, or seemed like they were in a hurry when I seen them previously on that road. Speeding in a city usually never saves anyone more than a couple minutes and speeding on a highway kills people every year because someone couldn't be bothered to leave 10 minutes earlier or be 10 minutes late to wherever they are going.

 

[John K]

For the insurance portion, the price will choose if Tesla insurance will be used.

If FSD becomes a subscription negating the reservation, will be greatly annoyed. We already ‘need‘ to commit to a data package, my goal is reducing utility payments.

 

[CyberMoose]

For the insurance portion, the price will choose if Tesla insurance will be used.

If FSD becomes a subscription negating the reservation, will be greatly annoyed. We already ‘need‘ to commit to a data package, my goal is reducing utility payments.

Oh when I said FSD being possibly subscription only in the future, I definitely didn't mean against peoples reservations. Tesla would get way too much hate if they all of a sudden said anyone with an existing order or preorder with FSD no longer gets it. If Tesla went down that route, they would probably just take away the option for anyone who hasn't selected it. I also wouldn't expect Tesla to do that for quite a while if they ever decide to.

Speaking of Data packages. I'm really hoping Tesla includes different levels of premium connectivity for vehicles. something like standard, then a good size data option and maybe an unlimited data option. It would be awesome to have wifi as well as unlimited streaming for netflix and other apps.

I know people have talked about starlink in Tesla vehicles. Personally I don't see that happening for a long time unless you buy the dish and plug it in to the back of the Cybertruck. But a fair priced data plan for vehicles would make a lot of people pretty happy with it, especially those who travel a lot for work.

 

[rr6013]

Oh when I said FSD being possibly subscription only in the future, I definitely didn't mean against peoples reservations. Tesla would get way too much hate if they all of a sudden said anyone with an existing order or preorder with FSD no longer gets it. If Tesla went down that route, they would probably just take away the option for anyone who hasn't selected it. I also wouldn't expect Tesla to do that for quite a while if they ever decide to.

Speaking of Data packages. I'm really hoping Tesla includes different levels of premium connectivity for vehicles. something like standard, then a good size data option and maybe an unlimited data option. It would be awesome to have wifi as well as unlimited streaming for netflix and other apps.

I know people have talked about starlink in Tesla vehicles. Personally I don't see that happening for a long time unless you buy the dish and plug it in to the back of the Cybertruck. But a fair priced data plan for vehicles would make a lot of people pretty happy with it, especially those who travel a lot for work.

Don’t be surprised that Cybertruck roof section or frunk is StarLink anitenna

 

[CyberMoose]

Don’t be surprised that Cybertruck roof section or frunk is StarLink anitenna

A starlink antenna isn't small. The dish is 23" because it's not just picking up a strong signal from a cell phone tower, it's from low orbit in space. The entire purpose for Starlink is to give internet access to areas of the world where it's extremely hard and expensive to get. There is a family in northern australia that was paying hundreds of dollars a month for slow internet; they couldn't stream tv or make video calls, they had to download everything probably days in advance if they wanted to watch tv or something. Starlink gave them strong internet that made it like they weren't living in the middle of no where.

I don't think Starlink is anywhere near being a priority for any Tesla vehicle because it's just not necessary. If you want internet while camping, sure there is the option to just buy a Starlink dish and pay for a subscription, but that's pretty pricey for a camping trip.

Right now 5g coverage is growing and it's already as good as a lot of home internet setups. It's very likely that in the next few years, depending where people live, you could have 5g supplying wifi to your home devices. Laptops could also get the ability to recieve a 5g connection and it would make sense for vehicles like Teslas to be able to as well, since you have netflix and other streaming services in a Tesla.

As great as Starlink is and as much as I would love it in my Cybertruck, it doesn't make logical sense for Tesla to offer it in their vehicles. A starlink dish is hundreds of dollars and a subscription is $100 a month. While premium connectivity is already available in every car and costs $10 a month.

 

[Newton]

i drive super chill 95% or the time, hopefully that will reflect in better prices!
but very lame if they punish you for using your performance car!

 

[CyberMoose]

i drive super chill 95% or the time, hopefully that will reflect in better prices!
super lame if they punish you for using your performance car though!

I agree, that's why I would suspect they will have a way to let people use their cars on a track without it reflecting in their insurance. Performance specs in a car obviously aren't for public roads and i'm sure most people have done something illegal like accelerating really fast from a stop sign or testing their top speed on a long stretch of road, or something else where no one got hurt. But at the same time, we see on the news when one of those people are unlucky.

I think a monitoring app for when people are on public roads is a great way to save lives. If there is a monetary value to drive faster than the speed limit, to launch yourself when the light turns green, or to do anything else unsafe on the road, I think it'll make people better drivers overall.

 

[Luke42]

I dislike subscriptions. I hope this applies to those who did not purchase the FSD option

You already subscribe to insurance, maintenance, and fuel -- the bills are just separate from how you paid for your car (assuming you didn't lease, er, subscribe).

I'm not a fan of expenses which go on in perpetuity, either, even small ones (I'm looking at you Netflix and Hulu), either. The numbers may be small, they add up over time.

I'm pointing this out, not to be argumentative, but because I'm concerned that the familiarity-effect of how we do things now may be obscuring the core issue a bit. How is subscribing to Tesla Insurance on your phone different than subscribing to Geico through their website?

The more things change, the more they stay the same?

 

[rr6013]

You already subscribe to insurance, maintenance, and fuel -- the bills are just separate from how you paid for your car (assuming you didn't lease, er, subscribe).

I'm not a fan of expenses which go on in perpetuity, either, even small ones (I'm looking at you Netflix and Hulu), either. The numbers may be small, they add up over time.

I'm pointing this out, not to be argumentative, but because I'm concerned that the familiarity-effect of how we do things now may be obscuring the core issue a bit. How is subscribing to Tesla Insurance on your phone different than subscribing to Geico through their website?

The more things change, the more they stay the same?

Bundle pricing

 

[John K]

You already subscribe to insurance, maintenance, and fuel -- the bills are just separate from how you paid for your car (assuming you didn't lease, er, subscribe).

I'm not a fan of expenses which go on in perpetuity, either, even small ones (I'm looking at you Netflix and Hulu), either. The numbers may be small, they add up over time.

I'm pointing this out, not to be argumentative, but because I'm concerned that the familiarity-effect of how we do things now may be obscuring the core issue a bit. How is subscribing to Tesla Insurance on your phone different than subscribing to Geico through their website?

The more things change, the more they stay the same?

My concern is not with insurance. My concern is with FSD becoming a monthly service.

As to monthly subscriptions, I did drop cable.

Electricity
Gas
Water
Trash
Cell phone x3, couple cell watches
Internet
Home Insurance
Car Insurance x3
Life Insurance x2
Hulu + no commercials + local TV
Netflix
Disney
Prime Video
(my family thinks I am a stick in the mud for drawing the line at no more streaming services)

Soon to be CT data service

I preordered FSD, don’t want FSD to become a monthly service negating the preorder.

I am fine with Tesla’s insurance model, while I am a safe driver, speed is a suggestion when driving conditions permit. I don’t get crazy with speed either.

my plan is to get Tesla’s insurance unless they charge more than my current company.

if FSD becomes a monthly service, unless dirt cheap, this would shy me away from making it a success with my personal goals.