How Much Will Tesla Cybertruck Insurance Cost?

Multiple factors may affect insurance rates for the Tesla Cybertruck. First, the elephant in the room: the 3mm-thick stainless steel body panels. As we explained in our manufacturing and engineering analysis, the folded stainless steel panels eliminate the need for a paint shop as well as expensive tooling. The body panels are also promised to be dent-resistant.

“If they are truly dent-resistant then that could help the insurance rates,” Gusner said. If crash tests and real-world driving data support Tesla’s claims that the stainless steel keeps occupants safer, then that should help reduce insurance rates on collision and any medical coverage, including personal injury protection or medical payments and uninsured motorist bodily injury.

“However, if the dent-resistant material is much pricier to fix if it is damaged, then that would also be looked at by insurance companies, and for collision coverage [it] may be a negative and take away any decrease of rates due to the dent-resistant qualities,” she added. Take the defunct GM brand Saturn as an example. Although the automaker offered dent-resistant body panels, they cost more to repair since the polymer was more expensive to produce, she pointed out.

Kim Reynolds, our testing director and resident Tesla expert, noted that the panels could be expensive to repair. “It could be that damaged panels would simply have to be replaced,” he said. “The good news is that the replacement panels might not be as expensive as they would seem due to their inexpensive forming costs.”

Another factor affecting insurance rates is how safe a vehicle is for other parties involved in a crash. Noting it’s unclear what the production version has in store, “a steel body that looks as if it could cause a great deal of damage to other vehicles and those on bikes and pedestrians, would be of concern to insurers,” Gusner said. It’s anyone’s guess how the Cybertruck’s design might change by the time it enters production around late 2021, but hopefully those considerations will be addressed by then (if they haven’t been already).

Ironically, the tech that makes advanced safety features like automatic emergency braking and lane departure warning possible drives up insurance rates on Tesla vehicles and other cars, Gusner said. If damaged, the sensors and other system components can be expensive to repair or replace.

“I can only theorize at this time, but my sense is that it would cost more to insure the Tesla Cybertruck than a conventional pickup truck,” Gusner said. Data points to Tesla vehicles being more expensive to insure than other vehicles.

From the span between 2015 and 2019, Tesla vehicles have been 67 percent more costly to insure than the national average. Model X insurance was 83 percent more expensive than the national average rate for SUV insurance, coming in at $3,042 compared to $1,661.

It’s safe to say the Cybertruck won’t match sales of segment stalwarts like the Ford F-150, at least not anytime soon. Parts won’t be as widely available, and thus repairs could be more costly than on a conventional truck.

It may be on the more expensive side. Tesla vehicles that are newer to the market tend to cost more to insure, Gusner said. Insurance companies have more data on vehicles that have been on sale for some time, and they can use that data to lower rates if they deem it possible.

Once again, multiple factors will influence Tesla Cybertruck insurance costs. But Gusner has an educated estimate. “For 2019, the Tesla vehicles national average annual auto insurance cost ranged from $2,400 to $3,300 and I’d expect the Cybertruck to be in that range if not a tad bit higher.”

Tesla has not responded to our request for comment on this article. But we do know that right now Tesla is offering insurance on its full lineup, including Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Roadster, so it would make sense to add Cybertruck. Currently, Tesla Insurance is only available in California, but the program will expand to other states in the future. At this point, it remains unclear how much it would cost to insure Cybertruck through Tesla Insurance should the automaker go this route.

Tesla claims it can provide lower insurance rates than other carriers because it has a unique understanding of its vehicles, tech, safety, and repair costs. According to Tesla’s website, drivers can save up to 20 percent, and in some cases, as much as 30 percent. Tesla Insurance takes into account Tesla’s active safety and driver assistance technologies in its pricing.

“Most car insurance companies have not given out discounts for Tesla vehicles or other vehicles with multiple safety features—such as lane departure warning, automatic braking, collision assistance—as the insurers say they are still watching the data for proof that the features are working and cutting down on crashes and/or the severity of auto accidents that do occur,” Gusner said. She hopes Tesla makes safety data available to insurers so they can more accurately predict the safety of Cybertruck when it reaches production.