$5K is not an insignificant amount of money for something you aren't sure you need. That amount can put to work in other places and could earn some real returns. If it was only $2K or less I wouldn't argue your point.
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Did I Make a Mistake Skipping EAP?
- Thread starter doehringm93
- Start date
When I first test drove a Tesla before buying, my thoughts where "I'll be enjoying this car too much to not not drive it! I don't need EAP", after experience with EAP, I was like "This sh*t is magical! I gotta have it now."
I don't have long daily commutes besides on the weekends to go shopping, etc. but I think EAP is part of the Tesla experience I wouldn't want to miss out on.
I don't have long daily commutes besides on the weekends to go shopping, etc. but I think EAP is part of the Tesla experience I wouldn't want to miss out on.
Just in the time that I have had my TM3 the autopilot has become significantly better. Of my 1500 or so miles autopilot has been nearly flawless. Additionally it has stopped the "Drunk driving" behavior around on and offramps, and now keeps to the lane really well even on very windy stuff. I even give it control over hwy 17 which is a famously windy highway. As long as I keep it a 55 its pretty reliable, even if it slows to 45 where I would have just enjoyed the G-forces.
I am told and have seen a video that V9 can go emergency collision avoidance as well, but to this point I have not personally experienced this. I consider that to be the most difficult and dangerous test yet. What if someone just doesn't see you and merges right into your lane quickly. Will AP avoid that or not? I don't even know that I would allow it to, I'd probably take over to avoid the collision rather than morbidly watching it happen and waiting to see if the car responds.
I'd be really impressed if it avoided a collision that I DIDN'T see coming, such as a rear end accident but I am not sure that it will...yet.
I think you did miss out, but it sounds like you made a responsible cost vs benefit decision that works for you.
I am told and have seen a video that V9 can go emergency collision avoidance as well, but to this point I have not personally experienced this. I consider that to be the most difficult and dangerous test yet. What if someone just doesn't see you and merges right into your lane quickly. Will AP avoid that or not? I don't even know that I would allow it to, I'd probably take over to avoid the collision rather than morbidly watching it happen and waiting to see if the car responds.
I'd be really impressed if it avoided a collision that I DIDN'T see coming, such as a rear end accident but I am not sure that it will...yet.
I think you did miss out, but it sounds like you made a responsible cost vs benefit decision that works for you.
and THAT is my issue with EAP. $5K is not an insignificant amount of money on a rather quickly depreciating asset. 2K, it would've been a no brainer. If I drove highways all day I think I would've stretched for it, but honestly, I think I would've rather have gotten AWD for the better acceleration vs EAP if I had the extra 5k sitting around.
Maybe on the next Tesla
For me I'd be willing to pay a carpool 10 bucks a day for a carpool to drive me to work. However at that price I would lose the freedom to leave work early, show up late, or take a long lunch drive.
Each month that's $250, so the investment pays off in 20 months. Granted I have to spend my attention driving 5 days a week vs 1 day for a carpool van, but that is a small tradeoff for the freedom of having my own car and my own schedule.
Each month that's $250, so the investment pays off in 20 months. Granted I have to spend my attention driving 5 days a week vs 1 day for a carpool van, but that is a small tradeoff for the freedom of having my own car and my own schedule.
Msjulie
Active Member
My limited experience is the TACC is pretty good though sometimes quite abrupt when cars pull in front of you.. steering made me feel less comfortable as it seemed less smooth then I would like and a little wandering around but it's probably the incredible roads I get to drive on..
and THAT is my issue with EAP. $5K is not an insignificant amount of money on a rather quickly depreciating asset. 2K, it would've been a no brainer. If I drove highways all day I think I would've stretched for it, but honestly, I think I would've rather have gotten AWD for the better acceleration vs EAP if I had the extra 5k sitting around.
Maybe on the next Tesla
$5k for technology that other cars don't have, or in case of TACC & lane assist Tesla being far ahead of the competitors, I'd say that's worth the money. With Navigate on Auto and soon Smart Summon, we are only seeing the beginning of EAP's potentials.
That and $5k in a 5 year car loan is only $90 a month. That's nothing.
It's only worth it if you use it. And, $90 a month would pay both my phone and internet bill or my electric bill. So, I wouldn't say it's nothing. For someone that was just barely keeping roof over their heads it's a LOT.
Someone that would have put $5K into say, Tesla, for example about 2012 would now have $84,000. Not nothing.
You also have to take into concideration what you would do with that $5K if you didn't spend it on EAP.
Some people would prefer a nice vacation or upgrade to the house.
Others would turn that $5K into $10K - $12K, so the cost for EAP is actually $160-$200/month which is much higher than what you paid for it.
I intend to live at least another 25 years so EAP would cost me at least $450K, neglecting taxes, inflation, trading costs, etc, etc.... OK, it's a wash, and I blew too much money on the Tesla when I should have gotten a used Prius
.You
If he's not using it right now, it might pay to wait until it's needed. My guess is that EAP will get a price reduction as more ability is added to FSD and the competition gets more capable EAP like products out there.
You beat me to it. A person who does not have the available cash should, in my opinion, buy a 5-year-old Civic or Corolla if they need a car.
It's true that for some folks who want a Tesla the extra $5K is a hardship, but OTOH, the EAP is one of the two features (the other being that it's electric) that make a Tesla what it is, and worth having. I would say that EAP is the feature that should be first on your list if you can afford anything above the base model.
Kichwas
Member
LR RWD with no EAP here.
Despite having a 1-2 hour EACH WAY commute in heavy traffic I chose against the added cost as the budget was tight. Only way I got to the M3 was having VW forced from a class action lawsuit to pay me $20,000 for my old diesel.
(I was one if those “social justice warriors in a diesel” Musk slammed in today’s Recode Decide podcast. We got sold on a lie about double burning to be clean that VW claimed turned diesel into a clean car, and I believed them. They had told me I could use the stuff dripping out of the exaust as drinking water more pure than a revert osmosis filter...).
So...
I am finding thus far that the regenerative braking, ability to one-pedal drive, and smarter “non-jerky” cruise control are enough to make my ride less taxing and I often get to my destination feeling relaxed.
Do I wish I had autopilot, yes. But I am OK with lacking it.
I do have to confess that it wss “FUD counterclaims that really swayed me against autopilot. Every story I heard about autopilot before buying the car dealt with bad accidents... more in depth analysis showing those were often the result of drivers taking naps and using tricks to keep autopilot going theough the ways it tries to verify a driver ia still present...
If I am sitting on a pike of cash someday I might get autopilot, but I think I can handle not having something I never had before anyway...
Despite having a 1-2 hour EACH WAY commute in heavy traffic I chose against the added cost as the budget was tight. Only way I got to the M3 was having VW forced from a class action lawsuit to pay me $20,000 for my old diesel.
(I was one if those “social justice warriors in a diesel” Musk slammed in today’s Recode Decide podcast. We got sold on a lie about double burning to be clean that VW claimed turned diesel into a clean car, and I believed them. They had told me I could use the stuff dripping out of the exaust as drinking water more pure than a revert osmosis filter...).
So...
I am finding thus far that the regenerative braking, ability to one-pedal drive, and smarter “non-jerky” cruise control are enough to make my ride less taxing and I often get to my destination feeling relaxed.
Do I wish I had autopilot, yes. But I am OK with lacking it.
I do have to confess that it wss “FUD counterclaims that really swayed me against autopilot. Every story I heard about autopilot before buying the car dealt with bad accidents... more in depth analysis showing those were often the result of drivers taking naps and using tricks to keep autopilot going theough the ways it tries to verify a driver ia still present...
If I am sitting on a pike of cash someday I might get autopilot, but I think I can handle not having something I never had before anyway...
I'm guessing this wasn't directed at me... I wouldn't say I'm having a hard time keeping a roof over my head.
I'm sure there are others that could've afford EAP, but chose not to from a value perspective or they figured they'd get more pleasure using that money in a different way, idk. For me, at the time at least, I didn't think I'd get 5k of value out of it. If I just wanted EAP, I could've easily gotten it. I'm more so questioning as to whether it's worth 5k.
+1 .
Now they have increased it to 7k. Well, they can have it even more so than before.
I actually expected them to drop the price on pre and post sale gradually (maybe not that early, but closer to the year end).
It really should be a standard feature -- what was that best auto lane and navigation -- was it in cadillac? Somehow i don't think they optioned it that high, if optioned at all. IMHO 5k (let alone 7k) is too much for it, it is not that a unique feature as Tesla wants to present it. Without it, my chrysler phev has more automated features than Model 3, without making a fuss of it (e.g., adaptive cruise control with a radar is pretty standard these days and works great).
IIRC, AWD EAP subscription stood at about 75%, and I was actually wondering if they would start dropping prices by the end of the year when they are more under pressure for "free" cash to get some of the remaining piece of the pie. (or at least move adaptive cruise to the "standard" feature set to appeal to new sales by EOY).
For now the post-sale increase just looks like a demand lever to increase pre-delivery EAP subscription, rather than really a price for the post-sale customers. They tell me they don't even give trials on cars delivered after 9/26 (so i was right at the cut off date), which bears very little logic to me, since delivery date was entirely under their discretion, not mine. My order has been theirs for months, and deposit for years, but somehow i don't get even a trial just because they delivered a day later from their self-imposed cut-off. They probably had some additional sw costs to setup the trial package, which they saw as a distraction, but it can't be that much -- it's just an enable/disable sw flip on a schedule they can do right now manually anyway.
Which again confirms that they don't care about post-delivery sales. For now.
Once they do, things perhaps may still change favorably (for post-sale eap aquisition).
Anyhow, i don't even have a daily commute for now.
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And again, i have to agree. There's no such thing as disposable income. Well, not any more at least. Every 10k you "dispose" now is +30k perhaps more at the time of your retirement. If you think you are going to be set to retire comfortably without those 10k , fine . But my problem is, it is impossible even to project retirement costs in this country anymore. You get into a hospital for 10 days in California and will get a 150k bill after.Or not. Nobody will issue any guarantees any more, not even the insurance companies. At the rate it is going, I cannot make any projections even for the next 5 years, let alone 15-20.
Knightshade
Well-Known Member
Nope.
Caddys system works in massively fewer places than Teslas system.
The only real advantages it has when it does work are:
It has lights on the steering wheel indicating what state it's in, so it's more in line of sight compared to Model 3.
and
It uses a camera facing the driver to measure "attention" so instead of needing to leave a hand on the wheel you need to be "looking" at the road... (if that's actually an advantage will vary between people)
that's it.
The option is called Supercruise. It's only available on the CT6. And yes it's an option.
It's $5000.
Same price as EAP if bought pre-purchase.
And you have to go to a higher-trim CT6 ($15,000 more than base) to even be able to add it, while Tesla let's you add EAP on any trim of the car.
Thanks for the correction. i admitted i did not know for sure.
My argument about non-eap Tesla being less than my much smaller cost Chrysler still stands though. (I guess Tesla's equivalent of ACC would be traffic aware CC, which you can only have with EAP)
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