So to help pass the time, what are people's reasons for buying a Tesla? And what's your least favourite aspect of them (other than the wait time)?
For me, have dreamed of an electric car for years. Guess it's the "the future will be electric cars" ideology that I grew up with. Had a bit of a financial windfall, and here in Canberra the incentives made it an easy choice.
I don't look forward to driving at night. The lack of light up instrumentation behind the steering wheel, no buttons with backlights, etc. "Ryan's Model 3" on Youtube and TikTok shows a bit what this is like, and it looks spooky. Reminds me too much of a crash when I was younger I had on a country road at night when a fuse blew and I lost all lighting in my car - headlights, internal, just sudden pitch black on a 100km/hs road.
I had a passing interest in Tesla's but what prompted me initially to go and drive one last November was a water leak in my 2017 BMW 330iGT. $1800 to fix, $500 for the part and the rest labour to dismantle half the engine to get to the water cooled oil cooler under the oil filter at the back of the engine (and according to the forums it is a known problem). So I decided I am over internal combustion engines with their oil and water and turbo's and sensors and cam belts etc etc etc. Then I drove the Long Range and I was sold in 10 minutes, faster than anything I would consider buying at half the price. Yes, not quite up to the BMW in fit and finish and refinement, but close enough I think (as best you can tell in a 30 minute drive).
So my reasons don't have anything to do with saving the planet, or saving money on fuel or maintenance, it is about the drive. Here are the main things I am looking forward to when I get my car:
1/. The instant "throttle" response. When turning a suburban corner and accelerating, no more having the car "let me think about what gear I want to select, then select it, then get the turbos spooling up and now off we go"
2/. The fast acceleration ( in the past I have had a Mercedes C32 AMG, Audi S4 but nothing like the acceleration of the Tesla.
3/. Very little (perhaps nearly zero) brake dust on the wheels. I hate cleaning wheels
4/. Almost no maintenance for a couple of years and then it seems it will be comparatively negligible.
5/. Having put $108 of petrol in the BMW and worked out (if I did it correctly) that it would have cost about $12 charging at home, yes, I am now looking forward to the "fuel savings".
6/. And lastly, after spending all my working life (now retired) in a technical career related to electronics and computing, I am very attracted to that part of the Tesla.