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Now, according to a survey by FullyCharged,
the biggest concern for people who are thinking
of buying an electric vehicle is the cost
so I figured since I’ve owned the best selling
electric car, the Tesla Model 3, for a year
and a half I’m going to show you exactly
how much it has cost me to own it and drive
it 40,000 miles.
To do this I’m going to get geeky with some
numbers and go over my top 5 categories of
expenses so let’s dive right in.
First, the price of my Long Range Tesla Model
3 including taxes was $59,422.
But I was eligible for the full $7,500 tax
credit so after factoring in that which I
eventually recieved, the actual cost of my
Model 3 was $51,922.
I did have a very small, low-interest loan
for a couple months but I quickly realized
that I wanted to keep the car long term so
I paid it off.
We’ll say the little money I paid in interest
brought the total to a nice even $52,000.
So yes, relatively a pretty expensive upfront
cost, but let’s talk about how this car
saves money.
Obviously one of the best advantages of owning
an electric car is not buying gas anymore,
and it’s even better if you’re like me
and you drive a lot while living in a location
that has cheap electricity, such as beautiful
Louisville KY.
My car's electricity falls into two categories:
home charging and Supercharging.
In its first 40,000 miles, my Model 3 used
9,622 kWh of electricity.
Of which, 9,428 was from home charging and
the other 194 was from Supercharging.
I've spent a total of $54 at Superchargers,
and my cost to charge at home overnight during
off-peak hours is $0.07/kWh which means I've
spent $660 on home charging.
However, 100% of the electricity does not
always make it from the outlet to the turning
of the wheels.
This is called "wall-to-wheels" efficiency,
and in one of the original Tesla documents
they estimated an 86% wall-to-wheels efficiency.
It's most likely improved since then though,
but if we also factor in the small amount
of battery drain from leaving the car sitting
somewhere unplugged, 86% is probably a fair
estimate so based on that, my home charging
actually cost $767 so that means the total
electricity cost to travel 40,000 miles was
$821.
That’s actually really impressive.
To put it into perspective, if I drove 40,000
miles in a similarly priced gas car (such
as the BMW 3 series which gets 30 MPG) at
an average gas cost of $2.50 per gallon that
comes to a total of $3,333 spent on gas.
That means compared to a BMW 3 Series my total
estimated fuel savings over 17 months was
over $2,500.
That’s nearly $150 savings each month, just
on gas alone.
And as Elon Musk would say, that’s “really
cool"
What's also cool is the total cost of maintenance
after 40,000 miles has been absolutely $0.
Not even new tires yet (even though I will
get some before winter hits).
I’ve had 3 minor repairs done to my car,
all of which were covered for free under the
warranty and each time the Tesla Mobile Ranger
came to my location and fixed the issue on
the spot without me having to go in for service.
Since I haven't owned my Model 3 for 2 years
yet the only recommended maintenance according
to the manual is tire rotations every 10,000
miles.
But I have a local tire shop in my city that
gives free tire rotations to Tesla owners
(again another reason to love Louisville)
so still nothing spent on maintenance.
Now, many people have commented on my videos
saying ”What about the cost of a new battery?”
Well, what if it never needs a new battery?
You see, since I got my Model 3, the estimated
range has actually increased by 10 miles.
Here’s how it happened.
First my estimated range went from 310 to
325 miles as a result of a free software update.
However, the Tesla Stats app says my estimated
range is currently 320 miles which is actually
in the 99th percentile so basically I've lost
about 5 miles of estimated range after driving
40,000 miles.
Based on this, at 400,000 miles my Model 3
could still have an estimated range of around
275 miles.
If I'm not mistaken, there are electric cars
coming out right now with less range than
that yet they cost 3x as much as my Model
3.
Pretty clear winner there, right?
Now, since we’re talking about car prices
let’s see how my Model 3 has depreciated.
I went on a few different sites including
CarGurus, Edmunds, AutoTrader, and Kelly Blue
Book and got the estimated value based on
my car's options and mileage.
For my Long Range Model 3 (which is in very
good condition) with 40,000 miles it’s worth
about $42,000 according to these sites.
Remember I purchased it for $52,000 so it’s
lost an estimated $10,000 in value so far.
This is right on par, if not better, than
the rule of thumb that says almost any new
car will lose about 20% of its value in the
first year.
But this is not an actual expense unless you
plan to sell the car at some point.
With a Tesla it’s a little different because
the car is constantly improving as far as
the software goes.
But the software improvements also can improve
the actual range and performance of the car
itself which is incredibly unique to Tesla
vehicles right now.
That along with the promise of Tesla’s future
robo-taxi service which is designed to make
money for the owner, it makes deprecation
seem like an unimportant afterthought for
Tesla owners.
Finally we have the miscellaneous expenses
including my insurance which costs about $2,000
per year for both my Model 3 and my wife’s
car.
Remember from our comparison earlier that
I’m saving almost $150 a month on fuel so
my fuel savings basically pays for my insurance
cost which is pretty awesome.
Speaking of insurance I paid a $500 deductible
to get my bumper replaced when something flew
up and hit it while I was driving on the highway.
Also 2 of my 3 speeding tickets I’ve gotten
in my life have come since getting my Model
3 so that’s one con about owning such a
quick car: it’s super easy to speed without
realizing it until it’s too late.
So now I try to put it in Autopilot as much
as I can, and I also invested in this $200
cordless radar detector just to be on the
safe side.
I’ve also spent about $150 on various other
Model 3 accessories including floor mats,
a console wrap, and a screen protector.
I paid around $900 to get my NEMA 14-50 outlet
installed in my garage which is on the expensive
side and isn’t really a requirement for
all Tesla owners.
Some can get by with just a normal outlet.
Another completely optional expense was $1,700
to get the entire front of my Model 3 wrapped
in a clear paint protection film because I
drive so much and plan to keep the car for
a long time.
But I also use my Model 3 for business purposes.
I drive Uber Select and Lyft Lux with it,
and of course I make YouTube videos with it
and also drive it to job sites when I film
weddings and things like that so my business
mileage deductions so far have actually saved
me about $4,500 in taxes.
That’s pretty amazing, considering this
is virtually a maintenance-free car that doesn’t
require gas.
So that’s how much it has cost me to own
and drive my Model 3 during its first 40,000
miles.
It's been one of the best purchases I’ve
ever made, and I look forward to the next
40,000 miles and beyond.
That was such a Buzz thing to say.
So Buzz of me.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments
below.
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