Thought I’ll provide brief commentary of my Tesla experience, may relate to some. This post is of my views, and I do not intend to impose my views on anyone.
I currently own 3 Teslas, 2022 M3P, 2022 MY and 2023 MYP, prior I had a 2021 M3 SR+. I have a MX Plaid and CT on order.
I am no Tesla fanboy or a nerd but I am into cars, bikes, aircrafts, anything in mobility.
Pre Tesla
I grew up driving VW - VWs, Audis, Porsches and Skodas. My last ICE cars were SQ7, RS3 and Skoda RS.
My earliest engagement with Tesla was in 2015, when I was keen on a MS. The 7 months wait and the support (concerned of the lack of) made me walk into an Audi dealership. Fast forward to 2021, when there were some 1500 Teslas enroute to Australia, so for the first time, I’m able to get into a Tesla in 3 weeks.
Preparation to electrify
Anxiety and questions questions questions! Thankfully, this forum is a great place. People here are generally helpful. So big thank you to those who reached out to me then.
My journey so far
Range - I travel 25K annually, there is no range anxiety with proper planning. I have a home charger installed, but have not used it regularly (2 times in the last 12 months). I rely on free Chargefox public chargers and solar to juice my EVs.
Savings - I have saved circa $4500 annually from fuel, more if I factor in scheduled services required for an ICE car.
Charging - Fortunately, I have a free 22kW Chargefox charger (3km) and a free council 50kW fast charger (5km) near me. Admittedly, I see myself ‘planning my visit’ now as these stations are getting crowded with the increasing EVs.
Behaviour - Moving into EVs will see some behavioural change. For me, other than planning my journeys in the days to come (I keep my cars’ SOC at 50%), one positive behaviour change I experienced is my health. Instead of paying for gym membership, I chose to walk back home when I charge, walking back when the charge is completed. Walking evolved to running earlier this year. I lost 4kg since.
Service - This is where legacy brands are put to shame. I have 20+ services recoded and every appointment (mobile and on-site) is seamless. Note there is nothing problematic here, just being my OCD self, I schedule a service for anything from stains to the seats, trims to rattles. The longest they had my car was 5 days (loaner provided), to diagnose a rattle on the rear parcel shelf. This issue was looked at before, but seemed to reappear. And after 5 days and 250kms of testing, the culprit is my plastic shopping basket handles vibrating while the car is in motion . We missed that because the basket is contained in the boot’s well. Kudos to the service team.
Service costs - Had 2 alignments and balancing done, one cabin filter change so far, adding up to $600. Try that with Audi.
Accident - I had 2 unfortunate experiences, my M3 SR+ and my M3P were both rear ended. Both took 5 months and 3 months to get back into the road due to lack of parts. Hope Tesla has upped the game since.
Driving - A familiar theme, driving is different from an ICE car, in a good way to me. Acceleration is instant, speed is maintained up/down a slope and regeneration is great.
Quality - Having seen the MS, build quality is definitely better than Fremont. And it has gotten better since 2021.
Comfort - Comfort is generally good, but not on par with the premium brands. The new comfort suspension is way ahead of the previous set up.
Software - I am not fussed with the typical complaints - phantom braking etc, as we are still the beta testers in Tesla speak. I enjoy driving, I do not engage driving aids regularly. Still, I like how the car updates itself and I find something useful like the signal cancelling function.
Think the above covers the ‘daily facets’ of owning an EV.
To this day, Tesla has matured and progressed. I have tried other cars from BYD to Porsche to Cupra to Hyundai, none can match Tesla’s offerings. And it’s my own opinion. I look forward to the competition catching up, offering good options as we transition to more EVs.
Ta.
I currently own 3 Teslas, 2022 M3P, 2022 MY and 2023 MYP, prior I had a 2021 M3 SR+. I have a MX Plaid and CT on order.
I am no Tesla fanboy or a nerd but I am into cars, bikes, aircrafts, anything in mobility.
Pre Tesla
I grew up driving VW - VWs, Audis, Porsches and Skodas. My last ICE cars were SQ7, RS3 and Skoda RS.
My earliest engagement with Tesla was in 2015, when I was keen on a MS. The 7 months wait and the support (concerned of the lack of) made me walk into an Audi dealership. Fast forward to 2021, when there were some 1500 Teslas enroute to Australia, so for the first time, I’m able to get into a Tesla in 3 weeks.
Preparation to electrify
Anxiety and questions questions questions! Thankfully, this forum is a great place. People here are generally helpful. So big thank you to those who reached out to me then.
My journey so far
Range - I travel 25K annually, there is no range anxiety with proper planning. I have a home charger installed, but have not used it regularly (2 times in the last 12 months). I rely on free Chargefox public chargers and solar to juice my EVs.
Savings - I have saved circa $4500 annually from fuel, more if I factor in scheduled services required for an ICE car.
Charging - Fortunately, I have a free 22kW Chargefox charger (3km) and a free council 50kW fast charger (5km) near me. Admittedly, I see myself ‘planning my visit’ now as these stations are getting crowded with the increasing EVs.
Behaviour - Moving into EVs will see some behavioural change. For me, other than planning my journeys in the days to come (I keep my cars’ SOC at 50%), one positive behaviour change I experienced is my health. Instead of paying for gym membership, I chose to walk back home when I charge, walking back when the charge is completed. Walking evolved to running earlier this year. I lost 4kg since.
Service - This is where legacy brands are put to shame. I have 20+ services recoded and every appointment (mobile and on-site) is seamless. Note there is nothing problematic here, just being my OCD self, I schedule a service for anything from stains to the seats, trims to rattles. The longest they had my car was 5 days (loaner provided), to diagnose a rattle on the rear parcel shelf. This issue was looked at before, but seemed to reappear. And after 5 days and 250kms of testing, the culprit is my plastic shopping basket handles vibrating while the car is in motion . We missed that because the basket is contained in the boot’s well. Kudos to the service team.
Service costs - Had 2 alignments and balancing done, one cabin filter change so far, adding up to $600. Try that with Audi.
Accident - I had 2 unfortunate experiences, my M3 SR+ and my M3P were both rear ended. Both took 5 months and 3 months to get back into the road due to lack of parts. Hope Tesla has upped the game since.
Driving - A familiar theme, driving is different from an ICE car, in a good way to me. Acceleration is instant, speed is maintained up/down a slope and regeneration is great.
Quality - Having seen the MS, build quality is definitely better than Fremont. And it has gotten better since 2021.
Comfort - Comfort is generally good, but not on par with the premium brands. The new comfort suspension is way ahead of the previous set up.
Software - I am not fussed with the typical complaints - phantom braking etc, as we are still the beta testers in Tesla speak. I enjoy driving, I do not engage driving aids regularly. Still, I like how the car updates itself and I find something useful like the signal cancelling function.
Think the above covers the ‘daily facets’ of owning an EV.
To this day, Tesla has matured and progressed. I have tried other cars from BYD to Porsche to Cupra to Hyundai, none can match Tesla’s offerings. And it’s my own opinion. I look forward to the competition catching up, offering good options as we transition to more EVs.
Ta.