R7ehr wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:17 pmI for one, am not falling for all your reasons for buying a Tesla. I can see right through them, and I understand that your true passion is to proudly show your rabid support for Musk out on the West Coast. How close am I with that?
Elon is not my cup of tea. But I honestly doubt any car maker anywhere in the world is really run by high quality people. Every one of them is run by rich people looking to maximize profit. The others are probably more tactful in their political interventions. Musk is a bull in a china shop.
Having actually shopped around for new EVs it is quite clear that Tesla is currently the best bang for the buck. It also happens to be the most American-made car you can buy, more so than any model made by any of big-3. Right now you can buy a new Tesla Model 3 long range (which is their smaller model) for under $34,000 with the current rebates. That is cheaper than an equivalent trim Honda Accord or Toyota Camry which are two roughly equivalent gas models. Most of the other EV manufacturers are entering the US market with expensive SUV style models that are $10K or more higher priced than the Tesla. They make smaller and more economical models for the European and Asian markets but aren't bringing them to the US. For example, a lot of people right now like the Hyundai Ioniq5 which is now being made in Georgia. But their models are $10k more than Teslas. I'm not going to spend an extra $10K to make a political statement.
Right now we don't want another SUV. We already have one. We need to pass the 10 year old Prius down to the daughter who needs a car and replace it with something else. And the Tesla Model 3 is the closest EV replacement to a Prius. Mostly it will be my wife's car for her daily commuting. If the other car manufacturers made smaller EVs that are competitive with Teslas I'd look at them. But they don't. The only two are Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt and they are both last generation tech with limited range and slow charging so not an option.
Judas Maccabeus wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:35 pm
Drove my daughter's ID4, a VW, in California. Apparently, we were going further than the car's range so we had to recharge. Finding a charging station, EVEN IN CALIFORNIA is no picnic. It made a trip from Santa Cruz to Modesto a pain, and a planning exercise.
As far as the published range goes, you DO know that you are not advised to fully charge them, right? And when you get to the last 15% range anxiety sets in. Try going to the local charging station looking for a gallon can of electricity?
I have given the issue some thought. 99% of our charging will be in our home garage where our electricity costs 8.79 cents per kilowatt-hour and even less if we join some e-thermostat programs. The occasional road trips we make are either up to Seattle to see daughter #2, over to Bend to see daughter #1, or out to Pullman to see daughter #3. There are enormous numbers of chargers along those routes and at those destinations. Less on the way to Pullman but plenty. And the Pullman drive is the only one that will possibly require charging in route. Driving to Seattle or Bend will just require finding a charge at our destination which is easy and not time-limited. For example, Tesla has a bank of 16 superchargers near our daughter's apartment that is open 24/7 and another bank of chargers near our other daughter's home in Bend. Or honestly we could slow charge in her garage. Over in Pullman there are over 50 public charger locations including some new high speed ones so again, no problem. We go for a day or two and can easily charge near our hotel or AirB&B or just slow charge at the actual AirB&B if it is a house.
Most of the rest of the time will be driving around town or out to the coast or mountains around here for day excursions, none of which will require charging. Most of our cross country skiing and hiking is about 50 miles away and the places we usually go on the coast are no more than about 100 miles away. So none of those will require charging away from home with a Tesla with a 350+ mile range. Even in winter. If I knew for certain we were going to be driving some place with very limited charging options I would just take the Highlander which we are keeping.
In any event, here is part of the calculation. At our current gas price of $3.25/gallon and our current electrical price of 8.79 cents per kilowatt-hour it will be 7.5-times cheaper to operate the Tesla compared to the Highlander. On an annual basis, driving 15,000 miles per year that is about $2111 per year and if we keep the car 15 years that is $31,680 or very nearly the price of the car. In other words, the Tesla almost pays for itself in fuel costs alone. Of course everyone's calculation will be different. But those are the real numbers for our circumstance as you can see below
