It would be interesting to break down exactly why they have higher rates. It could be:
- over reliance on it's automated systems (but FSD is only enabled on a small percentage of cars)
- safety design flaws (but it has a high safety rating by third parties)
- Unconventional UX decisions (steering yoke, giant displays with no physical buttons etc)
- novel behaviour of electric vehicles such as the fact users less familar with it's acceleration behaviour and lack of gear shifts, the increased weight or one pedal driving. (but why aren't other EVs up there)
- The politicized nature of Tesla attracting more risky customers. (but is that really worse than the type of people buying ferraris and other performance cars?)
The article points to the first point, and that certainly seems plausible, but they don't really provide any evidence to support that.