First time Car buyer

[Walkingbird]

Hi Community member, it’s my first time buying a car and I placed the order for model y last year in Nov. it has been a grueling wait since then.
As a first time car buyer what are your thoughts , should one go for ice vehicle or electric , also I don’t have home charging since my apartment does not have it and I will be charging mostly at superchargers.
Keeping those things in mind , what do you guys think , model y or Ice ( I am considering BMW X3).
I really love Tesla but the wait and quality issues I have seen in forums/internet have worried Me since then.

 

[Krash]

… I was wondering if I should take delivery, experience it for few weeks and sell the car If it’s too much of an inconvenience…

Not unless you really like to pay sales tax twice. Trading it for another car will save the sales tax. The Volvo dealer will be very accommodating if they have cars in stock. I find them especially motivated at the end of the year.

 

[jcanoe]

Atleast for an year I would have to charge at supercharger or l2 chargers . Yeah I have been driving cars for 10+ years .

If you want a Tesla just do it. Gas isn't getting cheaper any time soon and the Tesla is a great driving vehicle. You won't have any issue with charging when you can use public Level 2, Tesla Superchargers and DC Fast Chargers. Do you have a relatively secure place to park?

 

[Walkingbird]

If you want a Tesla just do it. Gas isn't getting cheaper any time soon and the Tesla is a great driving vehicle. You won't have any issue with charging when you can use public Level 2, Tesla Superchargers and DC Fast Chargers. Do you have a relatively secure place to park?

Parking would be an uncovered parking right in front of the house in the drive in area

 

[Walkingbird]

Not unless you really like to pay sales tax twice. Trading it for another car will save the sales tax. The Volvo dealer will be very accommodating if they have cars in stock. I find them especially motivated at the end of the year.

There is no sales tax in NJ for EV.

 

[Thp3]

There is no sales tax in NJ for EV.

Have you looked at the PlugShare app to see local L2 chargers near you? Shopping, dining, commuting or other leisure activities could allow your car to charge without visiting a supercharger.

 

[jcanoe]

Parking would be an uncovered parking right in front of the house in the drive in area

If you plan to leave Sentry Mode active when parked at the house be prepared to charge more often. Sentry Mode keeps the Tesla vehicle from entering sleep mode and as a result the Tesla vehicle consumes more power. For the Tesla Model Y this works out to 6% - 7% of the battery charge per day. That is a lot if you don't have access to home charging. If you set Sentry Mode to be off at the home location the Tesla Model Y will still be locked and the Tesla car alarm would be active.

 

[gx9901]

For me one of the best reasons to drive an EV is being able to charge the car at home every night. If that's not possible I think I would go with an ICE car because charging the car would go from being the greatest advantage to perhaps the biggest liability. I absolutely love my MYP, but if I had to go to a supercharger to charge it every few days, it might be too much of a hassle for me to overcome. Unless maybe the supercharger is located across the street from where I live.

 

[Walkingbird]

For me one of the best reasons to drive an EV is being able to charge the car at home every night. If that's not possible I think I would go with an ICE car because charging the car would go from being the greatest advantage to perhaps the biggest liability. I absolutely love my MYP, but if I had to go to a supercharger to charge it every few days, it might be too much of a hassle for me to overcome. Unless maybe the supercharger is located across the street from where I live.

Supercharger and Electrify America is within a mile radius.

 

[yellowr6]

How many miles is commute per day or week?

 

[Walkingbird]

If you plan to leave Sentry Mode active when parked at the house be prepared to charge more often. Sentry Mode keeps the Tesla vehicle from entering sleep mode and as a result the Tesla vehicle consumes more power. For the Tesla Model Y this works out to 6% - 7% of the battery charge per day. That is a lot if you don't have access to home charging. If you set Sentry Mode to be off at the home location the Tesla Model Y will still be locked and the Tesla car alarm would be active.

Thanks for the info !!

 

[Walkingbird]

How many miles is commute per day or week?

Less then 300 miles per week.

 

[jcanoe]

Supercharger and Electrify America is within a mile radius.

Good! For extra credit find a nearby free to use public level 2 charger where you can charge for at least 2 hours.

 

[tashtibet]

somebody who switched to EVs since 2016-never buy ICE cars they're dead or dying. EVs come down to 3 factors: battery, software OTA & charging stations-Tesla nails all-not a fanboi.

 

[yellowr6]

Less then 300 miles per week.

Yea. You’re fine! No need home charger.

2x trip to the SC and 20-25 min each visit. Turn on ur phone and check TMC, next thing u know, charging is done.

I’ll give u a week or two, u will never look back and even think of an ICE car.

Bc u lock in old price , Go for it. If u have to buy current, I’m not too sure. If u looking at another EV brand, I’m also not sure about it. Tesla is still the overall best EV for the price you’re paying. As long as u don’t get one with ton of “issues”. At the end, if you’re unhappy , just flip it. U will make 7-8k easily.

Pro on a tesla:
SC
Tech
App
AP
Safety
Spacier interior
Cargo (with frunk)
OTA update
Performance
Range
One pedal driving
minimalist interior
Resale value

Con:
QC (built issues )
Customer service
Price* (but u lock in last year price )

GL OP. Keep us posted on ur decision.

 

[Walkingbird]

Yea. You’re fine! No need home charger.

2x trip to the SC and 20-25 min each visit. Turn on ur phone and check TMC, next thing u know, charging is done.

I’ll give u a week or two, u will never look back and even think of an ICE car.

Bc u lock in old price , Go for it. If u have to buy current, I’m not too sure. If u looking at another EV brand, I’m also not sure about it. Tesla is still the overall best EV for the price you’re paying. As long as u don’t get one with ton of “issues”. At the end, if you’re unhappy , just flip it. U will make 7-8k easily.

Pro on a tesla:
SC
Tech
App
AP
Safety
Spacier interior
Cargo (with frunk)
OTA update
Performance
Range
One pedal driving
minimalist interior
Resale value

Con:
QC (built issues )
Customer service
Price* (but u lock in last year price )

GL OP. Keep us posted on ur decision.

Thanks for the response! Since I have been waiting a while I think I will be going for it and then as u said flip it if it’s too much of a nuisance.
I am okay going to SC to charge , just hope it’s not congested when I go to SC and hopefully it doesn’t affect the battery too much .

 

[gx9901]

Supercharger and Electrify America is within a mile radius.

That's pretty close and will probably work if you love the car enough.

Less then 300 miles per week.

I'm not sure exactly what the effective range is for an MYLR between say 10%~80% (since you won't want to charge over 80% at superchargers given that it slows way down past 80%. Also, they shut you off at 80% if there are many other cars charging), but it seems like you should charge 2~3 times per week unless you won't be driving to other places. For my MYP I'd say the effective range between 10%~80% is around 180~200 miles during warm weather months.

As you've mentioned, it won't hurt to try it for a while and if it doesn't work for you, just sell it and get something else. Have fun with the Model Y!

 

[mstatkus]

I've rented in Phoenix on Turo for a week and stayed at hotels w/o charging a couple times now in the winter and summer. I'll highlight some of the things I witnessed as commonly with a EV your living between 20-80%, or with a Standard Range M3 you may have less range but able to charge to 90-100%.

• Sources of Energy drain:
  • High Heat like 100 degrees + I was seeing 4-5% drain just keeping the car cool.
  • Sentry mode eats up around 5% a night if you keep that on for security.
  • If your in a cold climate preconditioning the car will also drain a bit.
• Tolerance with charging:
  • 3rd Party charging can sometimes feel like a bad joke (highly inconvenient and at times unreliable)
  • Locating chargers can often require reverse engineering location from photos
  • Some may show 3 types of charging, but only support 1 of them at a time. So you may wait.
  • Some may halve charging speed when someone charges next to you (Shared)
  • You may need to drive 20+ miles to get to a Supercharger so look at PlugShare for other options.
  • 50kW charges may not actually give you that. You might only get 26kW.
  • Tesla Joy on YouTube I believe supercharges only so her channel may be a good watch.

With depreciation, maintenance, gas I'd still nudge you in the EV direction. Just know I'm basing my comments surviving around 2 weeks off charger. Its do-able. More chargers are showing up (grocery stores etc), but I'd definitely look what's around you so you're not going into it blind. I'd also recommend renting off Turo for 2 or 3 days to give yourself a better real world scenario.

I put more info on EnergyCalc and pulled from as much free data I could find. This kept me from talking my friends ears off (haha). Your scenario highlights I need to switch from home to apartment and post some supercharging/3rd party charging costs. But you can edit the average kWh charge rate to what the local Supercharger costs which can be ~0.25-0.45 cents a kWh (roughly)