I disagree, because actually the
large majority of drivers that drive average mileage will be able to realize those savings, with the exception of a few places with mispriced electricity. We also know that Tesla owners tend to
increase the mileage they are driving, because the car is fun and the fuel costs are much lower.
So this is not BS, at all: a $43k cost is only $43k if we ignore absolutely every other cost that comes after buying the car. Making buyers aware of the significantly lower total cost of ownership of EVs is an
important part of the messaging.
Note how distorted and dishonest advertised ICE fuel use costs are already: if you've ever driven ICE cars that have a chance to compare to Tesla cars in terms of acceleration you'll know that actual ICE fuel use is often
much higher than the EPA fuel economy estimates.
Factors the EPA fuel economy figures to not include:
- with a Tesla car the stop-and-go penalty in heavy traffic is much lower,
- with a Tesla car the accelerate/decelerate dynamic driving penalty is much lower as well,
- with a Tesla car the idling/waiting fuel use is much lower as well,
- with a Tesla car the efficiency of air-conditioning is much better, because it doesn't have to be driven by an inefficient engine.
(Also, as Elon just tweeted in a followup, savings are much higher in certain states - I suspect Tesla is estimating these conservatively.)
