Tag: Financial Results

By the time the 2020 Porsche Taycan launches late this year, Porsche owners in three states will likely be able to choose a new kind of per-mile insurance offered through the sports-car brand.

Especially for those planning to make a leap to the Taycan, it could amount to some peace of mind. For those new to electric cars, insurance can often be a bit of a rude awakening.

Yes, in terms of maintenance, energy costs, and wearable items like brake pads, EVs are cheaper and involve less hassle. But wildly varied electric-vehicle claims rates have left insurers to take a conservative tack with EVs, resulting in some steep rate hikes. The most noteworthy of those was in 2017, when AAA looked at its own data and that from the insurer-funded Highway Loss Data Institute and, despite stellar safety ratings, decided to raise rates on the Tesla Model S and Model X by 30 percent.

2013 Tesla Model S crash test by NHTSA (Image: crashnet1 Youtube screen grab)

Tesla, which recently started offering leases, will soon also launch its own insurance product in which it might share data from its vehicles and Autopilot sensors.

The Porsche insurance program, administered in partnership with Mile Auto and Porsche Financial Services, doesn’t involve the collection of the vehicle’s location, or when and how it’s driven. Mile Auto’s solution simply involves submitting a photo of the vehicle odometer at regular intervals.

“No other information is collected from the vehicle or customer,” Porsche Financial Services assured Green Car Reports.

Porsche Taycan prototype

Although the timing of the program is perfect for those electric-vehicle concerns, Porsche says that the program was developed independent of the Taycan launch. It will cover the Taycan as well as every Porsche model going back to the 1981 model year.

Porsche Financial Services is the captive finance provider for Porsche as well as Bentley, Lamborghini, and Bugatti.

There’s one big “if” to this program: So far, you need to be in Illinois and Oregon this year, although Porsche aims to offer it in a third state by the end of the year. Rollout of the program to more states remains under evaluation; but given Porsche's plans to embrace electric with more models in the near future, it's an extra bit of assurance.