Elon Musk sets his sights on car insurance industry as InsureMyTesla comes to US

Tesla has partnered with Liberty Mutual to create a car insurance scheme for owners of the company's cars in the US, called InsureMyTesla. It is set to be cheaper than traditional four-wheeler insurance because it takes the vehicle's safety features and low maintenance costs into account, according to a report in Business Insider.

After many firsts in the industry, like its Tesla Network, the Elon Musk-owned company is now looking at automobile insurance, with plans on making it easier for its customers to own Tesla-branded cars.

Tesla started to roll out this plan earlier this year in Hong Kong and Australia, and as of now, InsureMyTesla is available in over 20 countries, notes the report. The company partners with local insurance providers in each country.

After the introduction of self-driving features in Teslas, accidents involving the car have fallen by nearly 40%, says the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

It can be safe to assume that accident rates will continue to come down in the coming years as Tesla's Autopilot is only set to get better with frequent updates.

Business Insider also notes that the annual maintenance costs of electric cars are also significantly lower than those with internal combustion engines.

In the coming years, the price of insurance could become a part of the car's price while purchasing it, added the report.

Earlier in February, Musk had said, "If we find that the insurance providers are not matching the insurance proportionate to the risk of the car, then, if we need to, we will in-source it."

The US launch of InsureMyTesla comes at a time when the American Automobile Association (AAA) says insurance premiums for Teslas need to be increased.

A study by accounting firm KPMG has found that self-driving and autonomous cars will shrink the auto insurance industry on the whole by about 40% within 25 years, because cars are getting smarter and safer.

Insurance providers might have to take a serious look at how they are going to modify their plans based on the way the car industry is evolving. Vehicles are increasingly going electric and autonomous cars are already being tested on roads. Tech firms are teaching AI programs to be more human and laws pertaining to autonomous cars involved in accidents are being laid out as well.

Tesla has already caused major positive disruptions in the car industry by becoming the first Silicon Valley firm to rise through the ranks and become the highest-valued automobile company in the US, and then followed that up with plans to build a Tesla Network that will "change car ownership forever".

The Network aims to eventually have people logging into cars and not really own the vehicle itself because "any Tesla you drive in the world automatically adjusts to you".