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Should I keep my SR+ order, or Re lease another BMW 330?
- Thread starter Ru55o-Bolt
- Start date
Yes I live in Quebec. The roads are icy and bad during winter months. We get over 20 cm of snow some weeks. I guess you are right, since I work from home, where am I going during the day. But when I do decide to drive, nothing beats AWD in snow. Any testimonials for winter driving in Eastern Canada ?
I have a Mid Range which is a rwd and I live Montreal. I have been driving to Quebec city and further east to the Maritimes in the middle of the Winter with snow storms etc...
I can tell you that it is doable. I am sure the AWD would make it easier but is that worth the price...I am not sure.
NathanielHrnblwr
Member
if you can't charge an EV in your own garage, an EV is more trouble than it's worth.
maybe buy out your BMW and keep it. you don't drive much, your tires will still fit, no need for expensive charging infrastructure installation. why rent a car when it just sits in your garage 95% of the time?
maybe buy out your BMW and keep it. you don't drive much, your tires will still fit, no need for expensive charging infrastructure installation. why rent a car when it just sits in your garage 95% of the time?
bo3bdar
Member
About 5 miles added per hour of charging. Since you "work from home 24/7" this is a viable option. Charging rate only matters if your commute or daily consumption is high. You can charge from 10% to 90% in 2 days if it's just sitting. 240V is nice, but at that price and with supercharger 5km away, I'd skip that. Adding the 120V run is going to be a lot cheaper and easier, and if it's even $800, that's still a huge savings over your BMW lease. I'm not sure, but I'd doubt you'd need a DCC-9 panel for a 120V circuit. Electrician will know for sure.
Charging wise, I think this is viable for you, even as you can't easily install outlets. The car is super efficient now, and even if you let it sit without charging, the vampire drain is about 1 mile per day. So you could for example stop by supercharger whenever coming home, charge to 90%, and just let it sit until next you go out. You'll still have 80% or better in every case.
I can charge at home on 120V, and this is what I do. I've got a supercharger about 5km away as well, and I've been using it currently because I got free miles from a referral. Before that, I would charge in garage of 120V, and always have a 90% car, because I don't have a daily trip that needs faster charging. The way to think about charging is 'how fast does it need to be?' If you are on a road trip, then it sort of matters, because a supercharger can fill up in 30m or so. That's actually a little to quick for me- I typically will want to take an hour to eat while it charges. It's a different mindset when you drive an EV. You can charge up in weird places, like free parking if you have an EV. If you don't think of it as a gas-tank, you just charge whenever, and get whatever is convenient.
I'm less sure about the question of AWD for the snow, because I haven't driven this in snow. But a rear wheel drive car that is super heavy and well balanced should be pretty damn good in snow. I grew up in CO and drove a VW bug in the snow constantly, and it was fabulous.
Would be worth checking on YouTube for how much the cold impacts range. Brand new car will have heat pump, so it will be less impact now. Given how little you drive, the real question is when you drive, do you need extra range or not?
Relative to letting a car sit around- I drive very little as well, work from home even before covid. EV is far better in this sitting around scenario. ICE cars don't like to sit. Probably irrelevant for a new lease, but my old cars got cranky.
Fernand
Active Member
I think all the theory goes out the window once you drive the Model 3 for a week.
At that point you either become a Tesla driver or a Tesla complainer.
If the latter, you might as well stay with an ICE car and tell yourself you're actually not emitting much smoke or CO2.
If the former, you start looking at things very differently. Driving becomes less utilitarian, less a matter of nickel and dime accounting, and more aesthetic enjoyment. Like growing a new part in your outlook. It's hard to say what will develop if that's your fate, but here are some possibilities:
There's nothing wrong with charging up at the Supercharger. The vampire drain can be low enough that you go to the Supercharger infrequently anyway. With the unstable price of gasoline, electricity will be cheaper all along.
Who cares anyway, once you start driving for the joy of it? You probably expect that, somewhere in your subconscious.
There are probably people in your condo that, given a modest bribe/fee, might swap parking spots/garages with you so you have at least a 120 volt socket within range of a 50ft extension cord. You can tell them that if Greta can sacrifice to save the planet, how dare they not do a little too?
You even might move, get a new wardrobe and all that.
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At that point you either become a Tesla driver or a Tesla complainer.
If the latter, you might as well stay with an ICE car and tell yourself you're actually not emitting much smoke or CO2.
If the former, you start looking at things very differently. Driving becomes less utilitarian, less a matter of nickel and dime accounting, and more aesthetic enjoyment. Like growing a new part in your outlook. It's hard to say what will develop if that's your fate, but here are some possibilities:
There's nothing wrong with charging up at the Supercharger. The vampire drain can be low enough that you go to the Supercharger infrequently anyway. With the unstable price of gasoline, electricity will be cheaper all along.
Who cares anyway, once you start driving for the joy of it? You probably expect that, somewhere in your subconscious.
There are probably people in your condo that, given a modest bribe/fee, might swap parking spots/garages with you so you have at least a 120 volt socket within range of a 50ft extension cord. You can tell them that if Greta can sacrifice to save the planet, how dare they not do a little too?
You even might move, get a new wardrobe and all that.
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Maintenance is included with BMW. Each time I go to the dealership for scheduled maintenance, it costs 'zero'. Those costs are masked in the lease payments somewhere for sure.
I was wondering if that was the case. Then you’re only on the hook for gas. Since you don’t drive much it won’t be a large cost, but it’s still an added expense. With the Tesla there is no scheduled service, so you don’t have the hassle of bringing your car in at all.
bo3bdar
Member
I'd definitely skip the Tesla charger, more expensive than necessary for no real benefit. A more universal answer for possible future users would be to put in a 14-50 outlet instead. You can get the 14-50 plug for your Tesla mobile charger and just use that. 14-50 will surely match any other future EVs.
Doesn't hurt to put in something more standard like the Flo or EV duty, but you'll need to use the J1772 adapter for the Tesla.
Can't I be both? I love my Tesla, and also hate my Tesla. But I also agree with the idea that it either grabs you or it doesn't. I test drove a Model 3 a couple of years ago via Turo, because I'd always been curious and wanted to give it a good daily+trip drive test. I went in thinking it was probably a poor match for me, and came out thinking Dammmnnn... that's a fun car. Had mine for a year now, and it's still a fun car, even with lots of little irritations. That christmas update really busted my balls.
Financially, its a big mistake.
Look at the residual of your BMW, you are probably in an extremely profitable situation as used car prices have all shot up.
The cost savings of a tesla can only be accumulated if you drive enough. If you dont drive enough, just keep the BMW.
Furthermore, if you are going to burn 2000$ to install a supercharger at home, factor that in vs the cost of your 1.5 fill ups a month.
I am fortunate to have a M3 and a BMW i8 and I had a Q50 before that. While the Tesla is a great car, its only great if driven regularly. The pleasure derived from a BMW is similar enough to a M3 for infrequent driving that it wouldn't be worht it.
On the other hand, for me, instead of installing a brand new circuit for my model 3 charger. I converted a 40AMP garage heater, into a dryer plug and thats what I used to charge the Model 3. The govt covered the entire cost of my charging setup.
Also, outside of the excellent FSD/Autopilot, the travelling with a Tesla is horrendous. Having to continuously calculate charging times, potential full chargers, the very poor cold weather performance makes it a poor travelling car (which might be more important for you since you drive infrequently).
Look at the residual of your BMW, you are probably in an extremely profitable situation as used car prices have all shot up.
The cost savings of a tesla can only be accumulated if you drive enough. If you dont drive enough, just keep the BMW.
Furthermore, if you are going to burn 2000$ to install a supercharger at home, factor that in vs the cost of your 1.5 fill ups a month.
I am fortunate to have a M3 and a BMW i8 and I had a Q50 before that. While the Tesla is a great car, its only great if driven regularly. The pleasure derived from a BMW is similar enough to a M3 for infrequent driving that it wouldn't be worht it.
On the other hand, for me, instead of installing a brand new circuit for my model 3 charger. I converted a 40AMP garage heater, into a dryer plug and thats what I used to charge the Model 3. The govt covered the entire cost of my charging setup.
Also, outside of the excellent FSD/Autopilot, the travelling with a Tesla is horrendous. Having to continuously calculate charging times, potential full chargers, the very poor cold weather performance makes it a poor travelling car (which might be more important for you since you drive infrequently).
Brake pads are not included in the BMW included maintenance, unless you pay extra for ultimate care. You basically get a free oil change per year or 12k miles, and tire rotations / fluid fill ups, and air in your tires, for the lease term.
They stopped including brakes a long time ago (unless BMW has different rules in Canada than they do in the US for this).
Thank you for the honest input. I always look at the numbers. In my region, Hydro Quebec provides our electricity and they have a calculator that shows you how much you save by switching to electric. For 5,000KM its like 650 dollars a year. That's not huge but it's something. Obviously, as you drive more (10,000 km annual), you save much more. The kicker here is that Quebec sends you a $8000 cheque because the Tesla value is less than $60000 CAD and you are driving it for at least 48 months. The government actually pays you to drive electric. I like that, because I see it as free money. I also hear that installing an EV charger, brings up your condo value by 6-8K so I will recuperate my investment should I rent or sell it in the future. So financially, it makes sense but I like practicality more and I'm on the fence with the entire juggling 50% churn rate in winter and sacrificing AWD. I'll decide shortly. I've booked a test drive with 2021 BMW 330xi to make a final decision. But I don't drive much but you never know with the future should things change on my end.
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A supercharger at home ?
It's a matter of opinion but I wouldn't say that travelling with a M3 is horrendous. I agree that it does required more planning but in the Montreal area and further north and west, there are quite a few SCs.
I am in Quebec too, to. I got the SR+ in 2019 with FSD and both incentives. Apparently now the LR and Y qualifies for both incentives. We recently had a loaner LR and there was a noticeable difference between the SR+ and the LR but the car is for my wife, she doesn't really care about speed but the AWD is definitely something of value.
I understood were you comparing keeping your existing BMW vs Getting a new M3. If you are buying new for sure. Then its a little tougher. Outside of a 30% discount on another new car, I would always pick a regular priced Tesla vs something else.
I'm skeptical about the EV charger bringing up the value of your condo. Renovations generally never bring in more than 50-70% of their cost and something as exclusive as electric car charger, meh.
I was going to ask about this. Are you sure ABRP takes into account weather temperature? Can anyone confirm this?
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