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Pros and Cons of Owning a Tesla

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#1 con: it’s expensive. It ruins gasoline for you. Makes *anything* gas powered seem archaic and silly. It leads to electron addiction.
 
Pro: It's the best overall driving experience on the planet!
Pro: Little maintenance other than tires and semi-annual coolant and inspection checkups.
Pro: Great for those with allergies (S & X with HEPA filter)
Pro: Trips are a bit more leisurely as you can (have to) stop for occasional charging, giving you an opportunity to see new areas and to get out and walk around.
Pro: I have nearly forgotten how much I hated stopping for gas. I don't miss the gas bills either.
Pro: With enough solar panels you can drive for free, after a 3-6 year payback period for the panels and installation.
Pro: Giving big oil the finger.
Pro: In Arizona, nearly free annual registrations and automatic car pool lane access. :)
 
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Here are some that I have listed so far. Remember, I have to present this to people who only have knowledge of a gas car and what driving and maintaining a gas car is like.

Safest Cars in the World – The Model 3, Model S, and Model X were tested by the NHTSA. All received the highest safety ratings possible (5 stars for every category). In fact, the 3 highest ranked cars in terms of least chance of sustaining an injury in a crash were all Tesla cars (Model 3, Model S, Model X in that order).

Never have to Stop for Gas During Daily Drives – For most people, who park in their garage or driveway, charging is done each night while you sleep. Everyday you wake up with a “full tank”. Depending on the model you drive, this means anywhere from 200 to 370 miles to drive each day. Each day when you return home, you simply plug the charge cable in. No hassles of stopping for gas at the absolute worst time (who likes to stop for gas?).

No Oil Changes – Or spark plugs, or timing belts, or almost anything else for that matter. Imagine how much time you spend (and money) getting an oil change and other regular maintenance on your car. This is never a factor in a Tesla car since it does not have an engine of any type. Typically, the only maintenance you will do will be tires. Even brakes last practically forever due to regenerative braking (uses momentum of car when you “let up” on the throttle to generate electricity which is returned to the battery. This effectively slows the car with no need for applying the brakes in most situations).

Gas Savings – The EPA tests vehicles to determine the MPG fuel rating for a particular vehicle. This rating is somewhat difficult for electric cars since there is no “gallon”. So, the EPA uses MPGe – which basically means the equivalent number of miles an electric car can go for the charging cost of one gallon of gasoline. The Model 3, Model S, and Model X have a MPGe rating of 134, 102, and 85 respectively. No matter what kind of gas vehicle you currently drive, you will save money in a Tesla.

Performance – (haven't written description here yet since I need to present this to the common person who could care less or even comprehend what a 0-60 mph time is. I need to make them understand the instant and steady acceleration in words that relate to everyday driving)

The only con I have so far is charge time and route restrictions when traveling. If we're being honest, this is definitely a con. I think people will respect the pros more if they see honesty about this topic. However, I will for sure explain that this con is completely offset by the time saved not stopping for gas on daily drives, as well as the money saved in gas. Plus, I'll explain how the superchargers allow you to eat, take a restroom break, etc in the minutes needed to charge (plus the rest/recovery time). But, I want to be upfront with people that if your goal is to get to your destination as quickly as possible, a Tesla (or EV in general) will be at a disadvantage to a gas car. Additionally I will explain that this disadvantage is being minimized every time Tesla increases the range of their cars. At 370 miles, most destinations will be within reach with only one charge (how often do people really drive over 600 miles a day?).


One important aspect to gas savings and no oil change is the cost savings from no/minimal maintenance.

Yes there is no oil change but the $$$ saved from no maintenance/repair costs is significant, especially if coming from a high luxury vehicle.
 
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All my pros have been covered already.

My biggest con is that it's very hard now to drive an ICE vehicle. I have to re-adjust myself to the dials and gauges, the gearshift, the lack of a backup camera, and I have been known to stand outside our truck pulling on the door handle and waiting for it to unlock. I also was appalled at the cost last time it got gassed up, where before I would have just shrugged.

Second con is the price to buy, as well as the cost to repair and the wait for parts.

Other cons: Had to modify the house to add the charger, have to deal with people who either want to ask lots of questions or give me the EVs-are-great spiel, having some dude in a muscle car pull up next to me at a stoplight and rev continuously until it goes green, people referencing or forwarding "facts" about how EVs are bad because of conflict minerals, child labor, electricity coming from coal, and that they catch fire a lot.
 
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Lots of them have been mentioned already. Mentioning something else that happened with us. These may or may not apply to all.

Car : M3

Pros : Kids jump up and down when I open the car with my cell phone. Its like that VW star wars ad with the kid
Pros : I am driving twice the distance daily, because I am taking up all my wife's driving chores and enjoying every moment of it
Pros : dont install a home charger if you can. you will change your lifestyle for the healthy. we have a park close by (20 min walk) with a free level 2 charger. Earlier our morning schedule was to drag ourselves out of bed after fumbling with our phones for a half hour or so and then drag ourselves to work. Now it is a quick drive to the park and an hour of walk while the car charges. Same at the work place. The office next door offers free charging. we park there and another 10 min walk to our office.

Cons : For a daily commute involving local or smooth black topped roads, no problem. But if you are used to listening to nice 'gentle' music and a comfortable ride and your daily commute involves not-so-good roads or those concrete slab roads, you might want to think twice before getting this car ( especially if you are thinking about switching to this car from a car that you love). We have two other cars, 2004 bmw x5 and 2014 mazda cx9. Comfort / luxury / audio / build quality wise, our M3 does not come close to the 2004 X5 at all. A recent 20 min drive on a concrete-slab freeway made me switch off the audio completely in the M3. The HD radio is especially bad in M3 compared to what we have in the CX9. Not listening to our favorite station anymore ! If we did not have the CX9 for our 4 + luggage family drives, I would be forced to trade away the M3 with a lot of sadness till something better comes along ( hopefully the model Y, cant afford the model S/X and havent sat in one either. So dont know about them )
Cons : If you have sciatic issues or if you have always been used to SUV type of seating, make sure that you are ok with the seats in the M3. After two days of pain and experimenting, a cushion finally solved my issues.
 
Cons:
Haters gonna hate.

So true. I got flicked off by some angry motorcyclist today on the way to work for absolutely no reason. He did the same thing to the MS behind me in the HOV lane. :rolleyes:

It's been said multiple times but the repair issue is IMO the single biggest con of owning this car. Low probability, extremely high impact. You'd almost rather be in a worse wreck than a minor one assuming equal health outcomes to all involved so you can total the car and not deal with repair hell.

My friend got hit by a drunk driver in his M3 a couple weeks ago, and he won't see his car again until around Christmas. That's just unacceptable. Meanwhile he's paying the note and has limited rental car coverage. Hopefully they start putting some focus on solving this problem ASAP.
 
My third day owning my standard range plus. I have not charged or go through a service for repair/maintenance yet so can't speak to that.

Pro List:
- Can monitor and control some functions from your phone, almost like a toy
- Can set temps to be comfortable whether it is summer or winter, so you can just get in and go
- Availability of superchargers everywhere, and can charge from home which is a big convenience
- Sentry mode and TeslaCam gives great security
- Backup camera is very good, big screen with decent resolution
- Very quiet and comfortable on roads (Aero wheels)
- Have access to HOV lanes (check your location for details, not all HOV lanes are applicable)

Con List:
- Service can be very poor but staff are polite and professional. I was the one constantly chasing and following up for updates, up to the last day to verify the amount outstanding that I had get a bank draft for. I understand my location was doing 30-35 deliveries a day.
- Rush build translates to poor build quality and this was my greatest anxiety up until I saw the car. You read a lot of stories here, bring a delivery checklist to go through everything before you sign. I spent 40 minutes on my inspection.
- There is no money savings for me, coming from my paid off 2008 Lexus. Insurance is higher, cost of the car is higher ($60K CAD after incentives). Charging with electricity at home is the convenience factor but bottom line expenses are higher to owning my model 3.
- Sentry mode, warming or cooling the cabin, and checking your phone app will drain the car's battery. You need to learn your range allowance otherwise you risk the battery going to 20% before stopping all the services. I can still get home at 20% battery so its a not big issue for me
- And lastly, Tesla has a lot of cost savings. No more NEMA 14-50 adapter, no USB cable, no floor mats. My advice is to buy what you need ahead of time
 
One important aspect to gas savings and no oil change is the cost savings from no/minimal maintenance.

Yes there is no oil change but the $$$ saved from no maintenance/repair costs is significant, especially if coming from a high luxury vehicle.
In terms of speed, ICE drivers need to know that there is no lag time when you need to pass a car or 18-wheeler. Plus, getting onto a hiway is no longer a sluggish effort: you're on in seconds at 60-70 mph!

No need for mufflers, spark plugs, air filters, radiator leak repairs, catalytic converters, gaskets. Also, the car improves via over the air upgrades. Can an ICE car do that? And your breaks last much much longer due to regenerative breaking.
 
A recent 20 min drive on a concrete-slab freeway made me switch off the audio completely in the M3. The HD radio is especially bad in M3 compared to what we have in the CX9. Not listening to our favorite station anymore !

That’s awful!

Doesn’t your favorite station have an Internet url? Can’t you find it on Tunein?

I admit I liked my local rock and roll station Bob FM in Michigan. Sadly they did not do a very good tunein link, but I found Bob-FM from Austin, TX who did know how to stream their signal. Now I to listen to Austin streaming and occasionally traffic in Austin and feel just feel sympathy then.
 
You know my wife? Caused you just nailed us EXACTLY!! Not only did my wife take my Tesla, she refuses to give it back, changed its name, and said she will never drive anything but a Tesla!

Ya, CON: having only one Tesla in the household causes marital strife. We agreed to let the person with the longer commute for the day drive the Tesla. Coincidentally, I started having many more client meetings. :)

We bought a second and peace has been restored.
 
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