Toulouse (France) (AFP) – A dozen Teslas were torched in France in what authorities are treating as an arson attack, the prosecutor’s office said Monday.

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  • @[email protected]
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    10 hours ago

    If the finances there work the way I expect they do, if it was political activists upset about Elon Musk who burned the cars, that probably doesn’t have a lot of negative impact on Elon Musk.

    My guess is that the dealership owned the cars, and that they’re probably insured on top of that. The insurer pays. So the net effect is going to be a tiny amount of upwards pressure in French auto insurance costs. The dealership will use insurance money to go buy replacement Teslas. Thus, Tesla will get several more sales, paid for by the French public.

    • @[email protected]
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      24 hours ago

      This risk is unique to Teslas. So if an insurer applied the cost to all brands, they would create an adverse selection problem where Tesla owners buy the subsidized insurance at a greater rate, and other car owners would be driven to the competition.

      This is why they ask so many questions when insuring your car, like if it’s a red Ferrari. Eeeeeverything goes into the algorithm.

    • @[email protected]
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      45 hours ago

      That only holds true, if no more than a tiny amount of Teslas in dealerships start burning. However if many start burning, insurance will drop coverage, dealers will look to sell other cars, and Tesla will loose serious revenue.