While making predictions seems presumptuous for a tiny insurtech startup, here at Avinew we read A LOT and we’ve got hopes and dreams for the 2020s just like everybody else. So, let it be known, here are five insurtech/autotech headlines we hope to see in the next decade.

Future headline #1-  

“Insurance industry giants make more technology investments than ever before as real-time data replaces traditional actuarial tables.”

As autonomous and connected driving increase so will the amount of driving data collected in near real-time. This real-time driving data will become a valuable commodity as it will be the most current, most accurate, and most insightful data set that the insurance industry has ever been able to collect. 

Insurers will invest an inordinate amount of money in new technologies to harness this data, apply the latest machine learning techniques, and utilize it to develop highly predictive new models of accident risk. 

Future headline #2- 

“Fortune 50 companies (i.e. Amazon, Apple) invest billions of dollars in EV and AV technology.”

The investment has already begun and will continue to accelerate as competition heats up.  Amazon, T. Rowe Price and Ford recently invested a cool $1.3B in Rivian in a Private Equity funding round announced on December 23, 2019. Amazon also committed to buying 100,000 electric delivery trucks from Rivian, which will reportedly begin deploying in 2021. This brings Rivian’s funding to $3.1B in total per Crunchbase, which is an exciting vote of confidence for the Illinois electric car maker and seems to indicate there will be at least two all-electric American car manufacturers vying to bring EV and AV to the forefront in the next decade; Rivian and Tesla.  Additionally, in June, Apple purchased self-driving startup Drive.ai, which confirms Apple too will be joining the ranks of big tech companies striving to make headway with autonomous technology.

 Future headline #3- 

“Bias in auto insurance is on the path to elimination.”

As real-time vehicle data becomes a real thing will consumers continue to accept that insurance premiums are priced primarily based on age, gender, zip code and accident/citation history? Or, will consumers demand that insurance pricing is based upon the driving behavior of you and your vehicle? We think it will be the latter and will be inherently less biased.

 Future headline #4- 

“Tesla invents solar/EV hybrid vehicles”

It sounds like Elon Musk already has a good start on this as he recently claimed that the new Tesla Cyber Truck will come with an option to charge using the sun’s power, adding 15 miles per day to the truck’s range.   His ultimate vision could be a self-powered truck according to motor1.com, which would make use of our natural resources and help solve the eventual strain on our electric grids.

 Future headline #5- 

“IoT and real-time data seamlessly connect your health, home, auto and life insurance policies.”

While this freaks us out a little, it is likely the future.  When you are wearing a smartwatch, living in a smart home and driving a smart car wouldn’t it be simpler to have a cohesive all-in-one “smart” insurance policy?  The umbrella policies of the future will be lit. 🔥