Model 3 as a regular Taxi car?

[mcumad]

Hi there, I'm thinking about buying a Model 3 for taxi here in Madrid (Spain) where I live. There are some Tesla's right now over here but I couldn't get any objective recommendations because the hype of owning a Tesla may hide any cons about choosing a M3 for Taxi.

Now please let me explain my concerns. I don't know what to choose between the SR+ and the LR. I normally do around 350-400 km a day, 5 days a week.

I plan to charge the car at home at night at 7kW for around 7h. I will also stop during the day for a small 1h break or so in which I can add some juice during the day (maybe supercharging, definitely DC). Is the Tesla going to charge constantly at 7kW at night if I use a wall connector at home? Will the charge get slower when approaching 100% charge?

What do you think about my situation? Am I risking too much giving to Tesla a chance? I really want to go for an EV, but I'm not sure if my daily kms will be too much for an EV. I know M3 is one of the most efficient EVs out there and you may know that Madrid is very mild weather in winters and a little bit too warm in summers.

If are there any M3 drivers that do taxi or simply get close to my daily kms, I would kindly appreciate an opinion/advice.

 

[jjrandorin]

The closest thread I can remember that might be of interest to you is the one I will link below (where someone used a model 3 as an uber \ lyft vehicle which is basically the same thing as a taxi.

Driver Experience Essay - Uber and Lyft with a Tesla Model 3

I wrote the below throughout 2019 and the first few months of 2020. When the pandemic hit in March 2020 I stopped rideshare (both as a driver and rider) and am now considering whether to get back into it once I'm vaccinated. Hope you find the essay below interesting (or helpful if you're...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[afadeev]

I can't give you a firm recommendation since I don't know your financial constraints, but on recent trips to Europe I got taxi/Uber rides in multiple EVs: Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, and Model 3's. In capitals / major cities, there was a large representation of EVs among higher end taxis. Away from major cities, it was 100% ICE taxis. I tipped EV drivers way more, so you have that to take into account.

Among those mentioned above, Model 3 is probably least efficient in terms of Kwh/mile, but it has the largest battery. Thus, you will get the largest range of travel with a Model 3 LR. 350-400 km / day == 217-249 miles / day. You will need to invest into at least a 3 LR to have a chance to drive that much without mid-day charging, assuming you start each day with 100% battery charge (which will negatively impact your battery lifespan). Spain will be hot in the summer, to consider AC drain on the battery when calculating range!

The other thing to consider is downtime in case of accident and/or repairs. And the cost of insurance for a Tesla.
In the US, Tesla insurance costs are ~50% those of comparable luxury ICE vehicles, and accident / service repair times can be 2-3x longer than that of any other OEM.

If in-service costs, including financing and opportunity costs, work out in Model 3's favor - go for it!

HTH,
a

 

[Tam]

...Now please let me explain my concerns. I don't know what to choose between the SR+ and the LR...

Range is King! Get the longest range that you can afford.

 

[Soul Surfer]

Montreal, Quebec, Canada has adopted the Tesla Model 3 as a taxi. There are 100’s of them.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Definitely long range. You don't want to be slave to range.

 

[Randy-12]

Montreal, Quebec, Canada has adopted the Tesla Model 3 as a taxi. There are 100’s of them.

I was in one and it was a 2021 SR+
Driver and his father own it with no regrets

 

[rpiotro]

Range is King! Get the longest range that you can afford.

Range is overrated. It depends on your needs. He said he could take a one hour break to top it off. On a level III charger you could easily fill that battery up in an hour.

I took a road trip from Milwaukee to Minneapolis in my SR+. 340 miles. Two <20 minute stops. One for a quick burger for lunch and another for a coffee and scone. In each case the car was recharged before I was.

To each his/her own.

 

[Tam]

Range is overrated...

True. People have survived with 84 mile range from Nissan Leaf and they don’t feel that's a limitation.

Still, I don’t want to be a slave to the short range.

 

[hgmichna]

I would think that the Model Y is better suited to taxi service, because it is more spacious and a bit more convenient in terms of luggage and entering/exiting the car. It isn't that much more expensive either.

I'm saying that despite driving a Model 3 myself. I personally have no need for the Model Y, but then I don't drive a taxi.

 

[Zcd1]

Tesla is currently offering a promotion to US Uber drivers consisting of a discounted rental for the Model 3. I’ve recently had several Uber rides in Model 3s and asked each driver for their thoughts. The consensus was that they like the cars and driving them, but weren’t sure about the economics of the rental.

If buying a car for ride-share purposes and also using it as your personal car, a Model 3 makes good sense due to range and ease/speed of charging, IMO.

 

[Rottenapplr]

Someone made a point here how Tesla repairs if it happens and it will can take a while. So consider that imho. How many times has your ice taxi ever need to go into repair and body repair due to accidents. And Tesla service centers take an awful long time. Do you have a plan b for alternative car to use?

I’m sure there are advantages with EV but there’s negatives too. Charging isn’t the issue that should determine whether you buy a Tesla or not. it’s the ongoing support of the car. Heck I had to do a computer upgrade optional and the car In the shop for 2 days. Something that took them 3 hrs to fix. But there’s so many delays. My steering wheel was clicking. Initial mobile repair made it worst. It took them almost a week to fix. Same with my seat lumbar support. Almost a week. I have a beater Prius 2006 with 300k miles on there that I can rely on but if I didn’t have that I would be screwed unable to head to work.

Charging is fine. It’s great. Nonissue. But that isn’t the factor to consider in this case.

 

[Dave[N]]

Can't speak to the Taxi related usage, but a couple of his initial questions weren't addressed.

1) 7kW for 7h will only get you part way charged.
7kW * 7h * 92% (charging efficiency) / 221Wh/mi (EPA) * 1.6 km/mi = 328 km over night,
or adding ~58% SOC for a LR (77.8kWh).
Even if you could achieve EPA range for your use case, you will definitely need that 1h of DC fast charging every day.
Or consider if it is worth it for you to find an option for > 7kW.
Charging at home will be cheaper, and not sure if the location of DC charges lines up with where you would otherwise take your break.
You may already realize this, but you probably don't want to charge everyday to >= 90%, or discharge to 0%.

2) Will the charge get slower when approaching 100% charge?
DC Fast charging produces heat, that slows the curve so you might slow down to ~50kW.
AC / L2 charging doesn't need to slow down, as you are already below the threshold, so should remain constant.

 

[blackT3$!@]

... life as a Tesla Uber driver

From the above article.
"At 100%, my Model 3 shows a total range of 432km. It is plenty for me. Charging is mainly done at home as we have the Tesla Wallcharger which provides 8kw @ 32amp, enough for 55km range added per hour, if I need it any quicker I use the Tesla Superchargers which can peak at 167kw on the Model 3, equivalent to over 1082km per hour added ..
Using the supercharger, I was able to go from 18% to 100% in under 42mins. (Editor’s note: At least half of that time would be going from 80 to 100 per cent, as the rate of charging slows dramatically as the battery fills).
Given you can charge this car in a short amount of time it works great for me doing Uber."

 

[tm3lrawd]

Seen on the street in NYC. Many riders will have problems opening the doors on an M3 or MY. See "push here to open" next to the rear handle.

 

[CKwik240]

Can't speak to the Taxi related usage, but a couple of his initial questions weren't addressed.

1) 7kW for 7h will only get you part way charged.
7kW * 7h * 92% (charging efficiency) / 221Wh/mi (EPA) * 1.6 km/mi = 328 km over night,
or adding ~58% SOC for a LR (77.8kWh).
Even if you could achieve EPA range for your use case, you will definitely need that 1h of DC fast charging every day.

One options would to fast charge at the end of the workday up to enough charge such that he can charge the rest of the way at home. If there are hard limitations on charge speed at home, then this would at some flexibility in that his fast charge needs at the end of the day would be dependent on what range he has left.

 

[T061]

Hi there, I'm thinking about buying a Model 3 for taxi here in Madrid (Spain) where I live. There are some Tesla's right now over here but I couldn't get any objective recommendations because the hype of owning a Tesla may hide any cons about choosing a M3 for Taxi.

Now please let me explain my concerns. I don't know what to choose between the SR+ and the LR. I normally do around 350-400 km a day, 5 days a week.

I plan to charge the car at home at night at 7kW for around 7h. I will also stop during the day for a small 1h break or so in which I can add some juice during the day (maybe supercharging, definitely DC). Is the Tesla going to charge constantly at 7kW at night if I use a wall connector at home? Will the charge get slower when approaching 100% charge?

What do you think about my situation? Am I risking too much giving to Tesla a chance? I really want to go for an EV, but I'm not sure if my daily kms will be too much for an EV. I know M3 is one of the most efficient EVs out there and you may know that Madrid is very mild weather in winters and a little bit too warm in summers.

If are there any M3 drivers that do taxi or simply get close to my daily kms, I would kindly appreciate an opinion/advice.

I've seen a few Model 3 Taxis and a ton of Uber/Lyft around Chicago. They mostly appeared to be SR+ not LR. I'm guessing that decision was based on the extra $11k. This is surprising since we get snow/cold weather and the supercharging infrastructure could be better.

I'm not sure the economics of buying a 50-60k car for this purpose, but the 400km is easily achievable by the LR without any intermittent charging. The RWD may need to be recharged (depending on the type of driving) and will surely give you more range anxiety. IMHO, driving out of the way to a charger and spending the extra 30 minutes to supercharge, instead of driving/earning is a waste of time and will add up over time. Consequently I'd spend a little more and get the LR.

 

[nate704]

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A rideshare service with unexpected features you could get used to.

gorevel.com

 

[ThomasD]

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