What is the best value Model 3?

[buyer123456]

I am looking to purchase a Model 3, and would like to see what forum members see as the best bang for the buck among the various Model 3 configurations,

I have been looking since last fall when the federal credit was still $7500. There have been so much changes in the last 3 months in pricing and configurations, it feels like all previous research needs to be reset.

Also I am cross shopping with entry level German ICE cars like C-class/A4/3-series, as my current car is a 6-year old 3-series. I test drove Performance and RWD LR, but haven't tried the MR, and the upcoming SR is not yet available.

My leaning is 300 miles of range, but SR price is right in my budget. On the other hand, 200 miles of range, with 50-mile 1-way commute, with no home charging, can be painful too.

Any thoughts?

 

[Thomas Edison]

I am looking to purchase a Model 3, and would like to see what forum members see as the best bang for the buck among the various Model 3 configurations,

I have been looking since last fall when the federal credit was still $7500. There have been so much changes in the last 3 months in pricing and configurations, it feels like all previous research needs to be reset.

Also I am cross shopping with entry level German ICE cars like C-class/A4/3-series, as my current car is a 6-year old 3-series. I test drove Performance and RWD LR, but haven't tried the MR, and the upcoming SR is not yet available.

My leaning is 300 miles of range, but SR price is right in my budget. On the other hand, 200 miles of range, with 50-mile 1-way commute, with no home charging, can be painful too.

Any thoughts?

SR+ you get 240 miles and the nice seats and center console, plus a better speaker system. That car is a STEAL in my opinion. 100 mile round trip commute will work just fine if you charge to 90% every night (when accounting for terrible weather and the associated range loss).

 

[Zoomit]

Here's an opinion from C&D: Tesla Model 3 Pricing – This Is the Model We Would Choose

 

[ChrisH]

I am looking to purchase a Model 3, and would like to see what forum members see as the best bang for the buck among the various Model 3 configurations,

I have been looking since last fall when the federal credit was still $7500. There have been so much changes in the last 3 months in pricing and configurations, it feels like all previous research needs to be reset.

Also I am cross shopping with entry level German ICE cars like C-class/A4/3-series, as my current car is a 6-year old 3-series. I test drove Performance and RWD LR, but haven't tried the MR, and the upcoming SR is not yet available.

My leaning is 300 miles of range, but SR price is right in my budget. On the other hand, 200 miles of range, with 50-mile 1-way commute, with no home charging, can be painful too.

Any thoughts?

No home charging makes it a little more complicated. I agree the SR+ is the best value offered today but is there a supercharger location on your commute route or a charger at work? Are you willing to sit at a supercharger for 30 minutes or so every work day?

 

[buyer123456]

No home charging makes it a little more complicated. I agree the SR+ is the best value offered today but is there a supercharger location on your commute route or a charger at work? Are you willing to sit at a supercharger for 30 minutes or so every work day?

Yes there is supercharger on the way, one saving grace is that v3 may be available soon, although it may not be cheap($0.20/kW now?)

 

[ChrisH]

Yes there is supercharger on the way, one saving grace is that v3 may be available soon, although it may not be cheap($0.20/kW now?)

It’s .25/kw in Washington state even before V3 lol

 

[buyer123456]

Here's an opinion from C&D: Tesla Model 3 Pricing – This Is the Model We Would Choose

That is a great article, thanks! Given the price cut, the MR appears to be a good deal.

 

[buyer123456]

It’s .25/kw in Washington state even before V3 lol

Yeah unfortunately our main panel is only 125A, and to upgrade to 200A+ will require city permit and $$$$$ ....

If Model 3/EV does not work out our backup plan will be a plug-in hybrid like BMW 330e.

 

[Thomas Edison]

Yeah unfortunately our main panel is only 125A, and to upgrade to 200A+ will require city permit and $$$$$ ....

If Model 3/EV does not work out our backup plan will be a plug-in hybrid like BMW 330e.

Is home charging not an option because your breaker panel is full? 125a is no problem, if you’re worried about overloading your panel you just set your car to only charge at night when everything else is not really in use. Not having open beaker spaces also has some work arounds.

 

[Amendale]

Yeah unfortunately our main panel is only 125A, and to upgrade to 200A+ will require city permit and $$$$$ ....

If Model 3/EV does not work out our backup plan will be a plug-in hybrid like BMW 330e.

125A might be fine. My panel is only 100A, all gas appliances, and I have the HPWC installed without issues. Do a rough load calc on your home to see how much capacity you have.

 

[mbman81]

You can still add a 50amp 240volt circuit. If not enough capacity do 30amp, or 20amp. Any of those will make it non-issue.

 

[caskater47]

I think each model is the best value comparatively to other cars in its class. You can't find a better EV sedan for 35k. At the mid and long range premium levels you'll be hard pressed to find a better value for luxury sedans. At the high end there's no better car in the Performance class than the Model 3 for under 60k. The P3D beats many cars twice its price and is a great daily driver.

 

[Krugerrand]

Nobody ever complains about having too big a battery. So here’s my advise. Honestly evaluate what you NEED to have, then add on as many goodies as you can afford, starting with battery size. The least value-adding goodies are larger wheels and paint color.

Kind of this order.

Battery size
PUP
AP
FSD
PERFORMANCE
WHEELS
PAINT

AWD can fit in in different places in that list depending on where you plan on driving/live.

 

[jjrandorin]

Here is the thing on "no home charging". Some people are ok with this, but I dont understand why. One of the many benefits of driving an EV to me is the fact that you almost never have to go out of your way to "fill up" or "go to the gas station". I think of a super charger as "the gas station".

For me (emphasis on for ME), If I had to drive somewhere every few days to go "fill up", that is pretty much the same as an ICE car, with the exception that its MUCH longer currently to do so than an ICE car, and less convenient.

One has to be really committed to an EV for some other reason to deal with the inconvenience of non home charging. I personally dont even think "charging at work" is a substitute for charging at home. You can almost always control where you live, but at least in the US, where you work is "at will" and unless you own your own business may be somewhat out of your control.

I am not committed enough to drive an EV without home charging. Home charging is a game changer to me. Its like having a gas station in your garage, and almost never having to take a trip to go fill up anywhere... unless you were on a road trip.

I would really encourage anyone who is thinking of ANY EV without access to home charging to really think about WHY they are doing it. If its an environmental thing, or something like that, then maybe the inconvenience is worth it. If its "because its cheaper" it may not be, with changing super charging pricing, etc.

 

[Cheburashka]

If you have no home charging you shouldn't be looking at a Tesla, IMO.

 

[MrMassTransit]

Here is the thing on "no home charging". Some people are ok with this, but I dont understand why. One of the many benefits of driving an EV to me is the fact that you almost never have to go out of your way to "fill up" or "go to the gas station". I think of a super charger as "the gas station".

For me (emphasis on for ME), If I had to drive somewhere every few days to go "fill up", that is pretty much the same as an ICE car, with the exception that its MUCH longer currently to do so than an ICE car, and less convenient.

Just to provide another perspective, I don't have home charging because of the installation cost ($4k+ due to an underground wiring run being needed). However, I live in a major urban area, so I don't commute by car. There is also a public L2 charger a few blocks away, which is what I mostly use. I realize this is different than the OP's scenario. I went with an EV because I was interested in the technology and experiencing EVs before they became fully mainstream. I do hold out hope that at some point a neighbor or two will want an EV and we can split the cost of the install. Before that, I simply using Zipcar/Car2Go/other car sharing services or rented for longer trips. I am definitely not a typical use case, but I've seen others on here who are primarily use the car on weekends. The other benefit of an EV in my situation is that an ICE vehicle could experience issues sitting idle for days on end most weeks. Not an issue with an EV. Most people without home charging are also in major cities, so I think some of this is applicable to others in my situation.

To address the OP's issue, I'd say the following: 1) It sounds like 240v charging is the issue - the OP could charge overnight at home at 120V, which would limit the number of stops at a Supercharger. If they are doing this, I don't think there is any benefit to going with the larger battery. I think the SR+ is definitely the sweet spot as far as value, unless frequent, lengthy road trips are planned. 2) I agree with the others, see if you have capacity to install another 20 or 30 amps on the panel. You can then limit the rate of charge and that should serve your needs with no issue. 3) How much is it to upgrade the panel? I realize this is not cheap, but if you get the M3 and decide a year or two in you want a more convenient charging solution, it's not like you're in a scenario where it would be impossible to charge at home. 4) Never hurts to see if your workplace would install destination charging as an employee benefit.

 

[SageBrush]

Yes there is supercharger on the way, one saving grace is that v3 may be available soon, although it may not be cheap($0.20/kW now?)

It’s .25/kw in Washington state even before V3 lol

Cost is per kWh.

kWh

 

[caskater47]

Here is the thing on "no home charging". Some people are ok with this, but I dont understand why. One of the many benefits of driving an EV to me is the fact that you almost never have to go out of your way to "fill up" or "go to the gas station". I think of a super charger as "the gas station".

For me (emphasis on for ME), If I had to drive somewhere every few days to go "fill up", that is pretty much the same as an ICE car, with the exception that its MUCH longer currently to do so than an ICE car, and less convenient.

One has to be really committed to an EV for some other reason to deal with the inconvenience of non home charging. I personally dont even think "charging at work" is a substitute for charging at home. You can almost always control where you live, but at least in the US, where you work is "at will" and unless you own your own business may be somewhat out of your control.

I am not committed enough to drive an EV without home charging. Home charging is a game changer to me. Its like having a gas station in your garage, and almost never having to take a trip to go fill up anywhere... unless you were on a road trip.

I would really encourage anyone who is thinking of ANY EV without access to home charging to really think about WHY they are doing it. If its an environmental thing, or something like that, then maybe the inconvenience is worth it. If its "because its cheaper" it may not be, with changing super charging pricing, etc.

I disagree. I do not have a home charger as I live in a condo in an urban area.

I charge the car about once per week currently. Sometimes that's at my office charger, sometimes at the local super charger and sometimes I charge at my friend's house. While it has been an adjustment it is in no way an inconvenience. The money I save on gas compared to my old ICE ($90/fillup) is easily worth the time spent to charge away from home especially when most of the time I don't have to sit there and wait for it.

But I also love cars and am an car enthusiast. So I have the P3D. You simply can't find a better performance car for the money and it's super fun to drive. It just so happens that it's an EV too which makes it all the better. I've had my differences with Tesla but the car itself is superb.

 

[seattlite2004]

Best value Model 3....a USED Model 3 that's been adjusted for current pricing, tax rebates and of course depreciation.

The original owner probably would have had work done at the SC....which is a good thing cuz the warranty work is done...and you dont have to wait...just enjoy the ride. Have someone else take the depreciation hits as well as time waiting for warranty work to be completed....all you have to do is enjoy the ride.

 

[buyer123456]

I would really encourage anyone who is thinking of ANY EV without access to home charging to really think about WHY they are doing it. If its an environmental thing, or something like that, then maybe the inconvenience is worth it. If its "because its cheaper" it may not be, with changing super charging pricing, etc.

I will explore further on home charging, last fall local electricians quoted $4k to add a 50A 240V box, plus $250 permit fee, plus potential non-compliance that the city inspector will pick on, so it is not straightforward.

We have the reservation# for 3 years now, so we are evaluating to proceed or not. We see it as a purchase of a $35k car(for SR) minus $3750 fed minus $2500 CA(we should qualify), for a $29k car that is comparable with other $25k-$30k car(ICE or EV).