No other car in history has changed this much
after taking ownership as much as the Tesla
Model 3 has in its first two years.
I’ve driven mine over 50,000 miles which
means I have no more new vehicle warranty
so I’m here to show you what Model 3 ownership
has really been like and if it's actually
worth the $50,000 I paid for it.
Thanks to Audible for sponsoring today’s
video.
The 2-year mark for owning a Model 3 is sort
of significant because that’s when one of
the biggest concerns of owning a Tesla comes
into play: Service & Maintenance.
Tesla doesn’t actually require service intervals
for the Model 3, but in the manual they do
recommend some service at the 2 year mark.
Here’s all the service & maintenance I’ve
had done to my Model 3 in its first two years,
all of which have been covered for free under
the warranty.
Early on my driver door handle wasn’t closing
as quickly as it should have been so a Tesla
Mobile Ranger came to my location and fixed
it on the spot.
Not long after that my windshield wiper was
making a clicking noise so the same Tesla
Mobile Ranger (shout out to Jeff) came to
my location and fixed it on the spot.
I also started getting my tires rotated every
15,000 miles, but luckily there’s a tire
place in my city that gives me free rotations
so no money spent on that so far.
Last year my cellular LTE data stopped working
so a new Tesla mobile ranger came to my location
and fixed it on the spot.
And finally, a couple months ago my driver
door was making a clicking noise so a Tesla
mobile ranger came to my location and, you
guessed it, fixed it on the spot.
All of those were minor repairs that cost
me $0, and none of them prevented me from
actually driving the car safely from point
A to point B so the core driving reliability
of my Model 3 has been pretty much perfect.
Once I hit the 2 year mark I figured I would
go ahead and do the recommended service because
I plan to own my Model 3 as long as possible,
you know this, so I opened my Tesla app - which
is awesome by the way, to schedule service
for a Tesla it’s all done via the mobile
app within a few taps.
I scheduled my 2 year checkup and Tesla quoted
me $600 for cabin air filter replacement,
wiper blades replacement, brake caliper cleaning,
and brake fluid replacement.
This was a bit of a sticker shock to me, but
since this is all just recommended and not
actually required, I requested only the brake
caliper and brake fluid service which ended
up being $390.
And after factoring in my DIY $30 air filter
replacement, the total I’ve spent on maintenance
comes to about - wait for it - $420.
Elon, I see what you did there you sly dog
you.
That means I’ve spent about $8 on maintenance
for every 1,000 miles traveled.
Not bad at all if you ask me.
Now let’s talk about one of the unique aspects
of owning a Tesla - charging the car.
Some people who have never owned an electric
vehicle are quick to bring up the argument
“Doesn’t it take long to charge?
Where will you charge it?
Are you scared you’ll run out of battery?”
Well guess what.
I’ve never run out of battery or been stranded,
and about 90% of the charging happens at home
overnight while I sleep when electricity is
very cheap.
Owning an electric vehicle has saved me both
time and money by never having to stop at
gas stations during my normal daily driving.
The only time I charge at a Tesla Supercharger
station is when I’m traveling on a road
trip.
In fact I’ve only Supercharged 29 times
during my first 52,000 miles and I’ve only
spent $54 on Supercharging so far.
To find out how much I’ve spent on charging
we need to get geeky with some numbers.
My off-peak home charging rate is about 7
cents per kWh, and since 90% of my miles traveled
were done by charging at home that’s about
46,800 miles.
My Model 3’s lifetime avg efficiency is
244 Wh/mile and if we consider a 90% wall
to wheels efficiency my home charging cost
comes to about $900.
After adding in Supercharging, my total cost
to travel 52,000 miles is right around $950.
That means for the same cost of 6 months of
cable TV, you could drive over 50,000 miles
in a Tesla Model 3.
Seriously, cut the cord if you haven’t already
ok?
But that's pretty crazy right?
That fact that I haven’t even spent $1,000
on charging after 52,000 miles.
Of course these are all approximate estimates,
but the point is the cost to drive a Tesla
Model 3 is way cheaper and more convenient
than any gasoline vehicle.
And most people don’t even need to get an
additional charging outlet installed at home.
On a normal electrical outlet a Long Range
Model 3 can regain 60 miles of range overnight
assuming it’s charging for 12 hours.
If you’re interested in seeing more videos
about charging costs and road trips check
out some of my videos on my channel, and better
yet subscribe so you don’t miss my future
Tesla videos.
Finally, let’s talk about the Model 3’s
improvements.
I recently made a video about the things I
dislike about my Model 3, but the beauty is
Tesla can fix a lot of those nit picky complaints
through a free software update, which they’ve
provided plenty of those since I got my Model
3.
You may have heard about many of these new
software updates such as the big one that
came out around the holidays that gave Model
3 owners more sophisticated voice commands.
This was huge because so many things in our
world are moving toward voice controls and
audio feedback.
In fact one of my favorite audio platforms
is today’s sponsor, Audible, which is my
favorite place to get all of my audiobooks.
If you're a fan of Tesla you have to listen
to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which
is one of Elon Musk’s favorite books, and
he also says the author, Douglas Adams, is
his favorite philosopher.
The audiobook is a funny Sci-Fi adventure
in space, and the narrator Stephen Fry takes
it to another level.
It’s definitely worth listening to especially
if you’re new to audiobooks because it’s
less than 6 hours long.
I can get through it in a week just listening
in my Model 3 during my daily commute.
As an Audible member each month you'll get
one credit towards any audiobook of your choice
plus access to unlimited monthly Audible Originals
which are exclusive audio titles only for
Audible members.
If you want to listen to The Hitchhiker’s
Guide to the Galaxy or any other audiobook
of your choice you can get your first audiobook
for free plus access to Audible Originals
when you try Audible for 30 days at Audible.com/andyslye
or text andyslye to 500 500.
Again that's Audible.com/andyslye or text
andyslye to 500 500.
Back to Tesla’s software updates, they have
given my car fart mode, new games, and entertainment
apps like YouTube and Netflix which are a
game changer for my wife when we are Supercharging.
But it’s not just these fun quirky features.
Legitimate improvements to the actual performance
of the Model 3 have come from software updates.
My car has become 10% quicker since getting
it in 2018, and my driving efficiency has
improved from things like the “Hold” feature
that they added.
Tesla also pushed a software update that improved
the Model 3’s motor efficiency and based
on the Tesla Stats app, my estimated range
is now 329 miles.
That means after 2 years and 50,000 miles,
my estimated battery range has increased by
19 miles.
That's unheard of and completely crushes the
argument that the battery will need to be
replaced any time soon due to degradation.
Other cool features have also been added like
Smart Summon which lets the car drive to me
in a parking lot, along with Sentry Mode which
records security footage from the car’s
cameras and lets me view the footage directly
from the touch screen display.
And of course one of the best Tesla features,
Autopilot, is constantly improving and getting
better as more Tesla owners drive their cars
which makes the neural network exponentially
more intelligent with each mile driven.
This type of dynamic improvement cannot be
found on any other car.
The Model 3 is an absolutely amazing vehicle,
and an even more enjoyable piece of technology.
It’s truly a giant gadget that brings so
much joy and convenience to me as an owner
while also improving the environment ever
so slightly by making me never need nor want
a gas car ever again.
What do you think of the Tesla Model 3?
Let me know in the comments below.
Be sure to hit that Like button if you enjoyed
this video and subscribe to see more Tesla
and tech videos in the future.
My name is Andy.
Thank you for watching, and I’ll talk to
you in the next one.
