Excellent Q&A with Ford/Mach-E Electric Vehicle Engineer

[Billyk24]

The MAJOR problem with Tesla is that Tesla will NOT sell ANY parts except to their approved body shops. As such if you have an accident the costs are significantly higher as only so many shops are approved and repairs take VERY long as parts are hard to come by. Now ad din that the Tesla is an ALL aluminum frame and in many cases a small microscopic break in the aluminum renders the car unsafe by insurance standards and as such the car has to be totaled out. This can be devastating price wise as like any car the depreciation is very high. The Mach E is a combination frame of aluminum/steel. it can be fixed at any body shop and because it is not all aluminum it can be fixed. In short the Mach E will be cheaper to insure. Tesla's are expensive to insure/ I am an agent so I do these things for a living. it is the WHY I never bought a Tesla and was waiting for mainstream car makers to do something.

Thanks for this update

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[timbop]

The MAJOR problem with Tesla is that Tesla will NOT sell ANY parts except to their approved body shops. As such if you have an accident the costs are significantly higher as only so many shops are approved and repairs take VERY long as parts are hard to come by. Now ad din that the Tesla is an ALL aluminum frame and in many cases a small microscopic break in the aluminum renders the car unsafe by insurance standards and as such the car has to be totaled out. This can be devastating price wise as like any car the depreciation is very high. The Mach E is a combination frame of aluminum/steel. it can be fixed at any body shop and because it is not all aluminum it can be fixed. In short the Mach E will be cheaper to insure. Tesla's are expensive to insure/ I am an agent so I do these things for a living. it is the WHY I never bought a Tesla and was waiting for mainstream car makers to do something.

absolutely agree. That's why the msrp of y being a little lower than e is misleading, the cost of ownership will be higher

 

[eastern refugee]

Thanks for this update

no one talks about this but it is THE why their insurance rates are insane

 

[timbop]

no one talks about this but it is THE why their insurance rates are insane

Yeah, I had no idea until I started doing research and called Geico. I was shocked that the rate for a model 3 was 65% higher than my mustang.

 

[timbop]

Did you read the sentence you highlighted where he said :

The MAJOR problem with Tesla is that Tesla will NOT sell ANY parts except to their approved body shops.

 

[eastern refugee]

Yeah, I had no idea until I started doing research and called Geico. I was shocked that the rate for a model 3 was 65% higher than my mustang.

In SoCal 6 month rates

3 series RWD-$650
3Series AWD-$900
X series-$3000

ford raptor-$750
In short the costs for Tesla relative to other high performance vehicle like a raptor is nuts. I expect the price of the Mach E AWD to be relatively similar to to 3 series RWD

 

[timbop]

In SoCal 6 month rates

3 series RWD-$650
3Series AWD-$900
X series-$3000

ford raptor-$750
In short the costs for Tesla relative to other high performance vehicle like a raptor is nuts. I expect the price of the Mach E AWD to be relatively similar to to 3 series RWD

I assume by 3 series you mean BMW?

 

[eastern refugee]

Sorry. No. I mean Tesla 3 series.

 

[macchiaz-o]

$650 for a six month premium on a Model 3 doesn't seem that bad to me. What type of coverages and deductible are behind that figure?

 

[eastern refugee]

Remember we are talking ONLY RWD. In short the cheap $40,000 midel

100:300:50
100/300
UMPD
BOTH DEDUCTIBLES AT $500
Towing
Rental car
Glass deductible is $100

 

[Sweetwater]

Just a note. I owned a Tesla 2010 Roadster. He only made 2500 in 6 yrs. 1500 stayed in USA
and 1000 went to other countries. I loved the roadster and it exceeded the specs. Mind you
it is all on how you drive and charge. I always got 285 miles at my home charger. Below is
a note from the Roadster review :

How long can you drive the 2010 Tesla Roadster, regardless of the fun you're having? Autoblog says "the company is quoting a range of about 244 miles per full charge." But the real number varies with driving style, according to TheCarConnection.com's research, and it will do better around town than at higher speeds. "Range on my test car is disappointing," says Bloomberg's tester. Car and Driver reports that highway driving "drains the pack fast, as it sucks amps and there are fewer opportunities for brake regeneration." Regardless of speed and range, though, the Tesla Roadster is clearly cheaper to run per mile than a conventional automobile. Car and Driver estimates that charging the Roadster costs "about $4 to $7 worth [of electricity] for a single fill-up, depending on your local electricity rates."

 

[1pt21Gigawatts]

The MAJOR problem with Tesla is that Tesla will NOT sell ANY parts except to their approved body shops. As such if you have an accident the costs are significantly higher as only so many shops are approved and repairs take VERY long as parts are hard to come by. Now ad din that the Tesla is an ALL aluminum frame and in many cases a small microscopic break in the aluminum renders the car unsafe by insurance standards and as such the car has to be totaled out. This can be devastating price wise as like any car the depreciation is very high. The Mach E is a combination frame of aluminum/steel. it can be fixed at any body shop and because it is not all aluminum it can be fixed. In short the Mach E will be cheaper to insure. Tesla's are expensive to insure/ I am an agent so I do these things for a living. it is the WHY I never bought a Tesla and was waiting for mainstream car makers to do something.

Can you give some more info on why the aluminum body of the model Y makes it typically more difficult to insure? I didn’t recognize that there were any other equivalent vehicles that have done such a thing as ModelY to compare to. Can you give an example?

 

[Stickboy46]

Can you give some more info on why the aluminum body of the model Y makes it typically more difficult to insure? I didn’t recognize that there were any other equivalent vehicles that have done such a thing as ModelY to compare to. Can you give an example?

I think it has something to do with repairability. Aluminum can't be repaired it has to be replaced. So if it's one big piece of aluminum, then any damage means the whole body/frame has to be replaced which effectively totals the car. So from an insurance perspective, your payouts are always going to be way higher.

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