Why I bought my Tesla

[billatkinson]

Many people have asked me why I bought my Tesla Model S 100D. Disclaimer: I don't work for Tesla or own stock. I just like their products.

All Electric.
My Tesla vehicle is all electric and zero emissions. Never again will I buy gasoline for my car. (I will still buy gas for my lawnmower and chainsaw.) When I charge the Tesla at home, the cost of electricity to drive 100 miles is about one tenth the cost of gasoline to go the same distance. On long trips, my cost of supercharging is free for life.

Only Vehicle.
This is the first electric vehicle that is practical for me to use as my only car. (My Leaf EV could only be used for errands.) My Tesla gets 350 miles of range per charge, and an extensive network of Tesla-only supercharging stations can add 170 miles of range in 20 minutes or 300 miles in 40 minutes. And the superchargers always have nearby restrooms and restaurants. I can drive my Tesla across the country or up to Oregon to witness the eclipse.

Future Proof.
Tesla vehicles are an evergreen platform and receive regular software updates. In the month I have owned my Model S, there have already been two such software updates. Each update makes improvements and adds new features. The current enhanced autopilot is already a godsend on long freeway drives. In less than a year, I expect full self-driving capability, where I can enter a destination and go to sleep. All Tesla vehicles manufactured today include the hardware needed for full self-driving. There are eight high-resolution digital cameras, twelve ultrasonic sensors, forward scanning radar, and a supercomputer for image processing and intelligent driving.

High Safety.
The Tesla is one of the safest cars I can buy today. With no internal combustion engine, low center of gravity, and dual electric drive, the Model S handles and corners beautifully. It knows the current speed limit, and I even set mine to chime if I go 12 MPH over the limit. The car will automatically brake to prevent me from rear-ending someone because I am texting or being otherwise inattentive. Using autopilot to change lanes assures I will not cut somebody off in my blind spot. The Model S's front, rear, and side collision damage statistics are impressive.

Low Maintenence.
With no internal combustion engine, the main wear items are the tires and the brake pads. Even the brake pads last longer because of regenerative braking.

 

[speedy]

I agree with most of your reasoning, except for the electricity being 1/10th of the price of gasoline. You appear to live in a high electricity rate state like me where electricity costs about 20 cents per kWh. Napkin calculations would say that a gas car that gets about 25 mpg would use 4 gallons to go 100 miles. That would be about $10 at $2.50 per gallon. Your 100D goes about 330 miles on it's 100 kWh battery. Lets say 100 miles consumes 30% of your battery or 30 kWh. Even without charging losses, that would be about $6 of electricity. $6 compared to $10 is not quite 1/10 in this case. Free supercharging and free local L2 chargers does mitigate this of course, and there are most certainly other good reasons for wanting/owning a Tesla, but from a pure price of electricity vs price of gas, it's not as good as many people think....

 

[oktane]

I agree with your post other than the high safety. Many basic safety features are unfortunately still lacking in our cars.

Also, despite what marketing department tells you, your car will never be capable of FSD. Sorry to see that you fell for the hype just like me.

 

[Struja]

I agree with most of your reasoning, except for the electricity being 1/10th of the price of gasoline. You appear to live in a high electricity rate state like me where electricity costs about 20 cents per kWh. Napkin calculations would say that a gas car that gets about 25 mpg would use 4 gallons to go 100 miles. That would be about $10 at $2.50 per gallon. Your 100D goes about 330 miles on it's 100 kWh battery. Lets say 100 miles consumes 30% of your battery or 30 kWh. Even without charging losses, that would be about $6 of electricity. $6 compared to $10 is not quite 1/10 in this case. Free supercharging and free local L2 chargers does mitigate this of course, and there are most certainly other good reasons for wanting/owning a Tesla, but from a pure price of electricity vs price of gas, it's not as good as many people think....

With what is going on in Texas, gas prices in Toronto will hit $5.00 a gallon on Saturday. Our provincial government just announced a new night time plan where electricity rates overnight can be as low as $0.02 per kWh. With that math we are better than 1/10 cheaper!!!!

 

[jd2017]

With what is going on in Texas, gas prices in Toronto will hit $5.00 a gallon on Saturday. Our provincial government just announced a new night time plan where electricity rates overnight can be as low as $0.02 per kWh. With that math we are better than 1/10 cheaper!!!!

Where did you see the announcement for th lower over night rates. Can’t find anything on google.

 

[Struja]

CTV news today at 6...going to $1.32/ litre at midnight Friday.

8-cent gas price hike expected Saturday

 

[Struja]

Where did you see the announcement for th lower over night rates. Can’t find anything on google.

Sorry...just realized I read your post wrong but it was Paul Bliss who reported to 2 cent night time rate. I will try to find it.

 

[SMAlset]

We just drove a P100D for a week on a trip and it's a nice car. We appreciated the longer range compared to our 75D. Hubby was just commenting on our electricity rate, Tier 1 isn't too bad but we always go over that and Tier 2 is something like $.28kWh. There's always someone around the house so their alternative plans don't really work for us. Even had them do a calculation for us. Roof is too new to do solar tiles and not sure about the solar panel approach. OP hope your electrical cost is better than ours. Sure we are paying for PG&E's failure to maintain the pipes that lead to that huge San Bruno gas line explosion and resulting damages, and other areas of California have lower rates. Hopefully you're in one of them.

We didn't add FSD and honestly don't expect to see it in a year. Do like the TACC and used it on our trip a good part of the way, the car spacing is nice. Can't really comment on the other aspects of EAP but do expect improvements as time goes on.

Yes, the car has so many positives. Did you actually forget to mention it's so much fun to drive?!!

Oh and do use your brakes occasionally. Don't want them to get rusty.

 

[Tiger]

Nothing is free in this world, not even supercharging, it is pre-paid and bundled.

 

[daniel]

I think FSD in one year is overly optimistic. I'm hoping to have it available in ten years. The software for it is not yet available, though they're making progress, and after the software is developed and validated, the car makers will have to get legislation passed permitting it. It's coming, but we won't have it in cars we can drive on the road as soon as a year.

I live in WA, where electricity rates are low. My other car is a Prius. (My Roadster is too small to accommodate my luggage for my one long road trip per year; there are no super-chargers on the secondary roads I take; and I'm not willing to turn a 6-hour drive into a ten-hour trip with a stop for charging.) I figure that I pay about 1/3 as much per mile for electricity for the Roadster as I pay for gas per mile in the Prius. One-tenth would require very low electricity rates and very high gas prices. But I suppose if you're paying 2 cents per kWh and $5/gallon for gas, and comparing the Tesla with a car that uses twice as much gas as a Prius, maybe you'd get to one-tenth.

OTOH, I doubt the ordinary driver would "save" money by buying a P100D compared to, say, a 5-year-old Civic or Corolla. I don't think anyone buys a P100D to "save" money. People buy it because it's the coolest car on the planet. (Sadly, it's just way too big a car for me. )

 

[Struja]

OTOH, I doubt the ordinary driver would "save" money by buying a P100D compared to, say, a 5-year-old Civic or Corolla. I don't think anyone buys a P100D to "save" money. People buy it because it's the coolest car on the planet. (Sadly, it's just way too big a car for me. )

I think this is exactly right. The biggest push back I get on the Tesla from people is the upfront cost. In Canada at S100D (with AP2) is about $164,000 (after tax and before rebates). Most people don't see value in buying a car that is more expensive than many homes (in Michigan - for example).

I bought it because after I drove it, I was fully in, hook, line and sinker but I also liked the fact that it is a zero emissions vehicle and Ontario has no coal power plants, so I feel like I am somewhat trying to be part of the climate change solution, not adding to the problem.

And while I do agree with you I didn't buy my Tesla to "save" money, I did believe (prior to the purchase of my Model S) that I would also benefit from all of this "free charging" everywhere, only to find my original charging expectations are apparently frowned upon as poor charging etiquette. I mean, I think even Tesla promotes this idea that you will recoup a lot of your money with this car with lower gas and maintenance costs over the long term.

 

[oktane]

I think this is exactly right. The biggest push back I get on the Tesla from people is the upfront cost. In Canada at S100D (with AP2) is about $164,000 (after tax and before rebates). Most people don't see value in buying a car that is more expensive than many homes (in Michigan - for example).

I bought it because after I drove it, I was fully in, hook, line and sinker but I also liked the fact that it is a zero emissions vehicle and Ontario has no coal power plants, so I feel like I am somewhat trying to be part of the climate change solution, not adding to the problem.

And while I do agree with you I didn't buy my Tesla to "save" money, I did believe (prior to the purchase of my Model S) that I would also benefit from all of this "free charging" everywhere, only to find my original charging expectations are apparently frowned upon as poor charging etiquette. I mean, I think even Tesla promotes this idea that you will recoup a lot of your money with this car with lower gas and maintenance costs over the long term.

I thought I would save money with supercharging too, however it is just too slow to use any practical sense. In California anyway, usually have to wait 30 minutes minimum for someone to vacate a stall and then you charge at 35-60kW rates. It does bother me though when I see commercial/charter Tesla vehicles hogging up a supercharger.

 

[speedy]

And while I do agree with you I didn't buy my Tesla to "save" money, I did believe (prior to the purchase of my Model S) that I would also benefit from all of this "free charging" everywhere, only to find my original charging expectations are apparently frowned upon as poor charging etiquette.

I see some of that sentiment as well and don't quite understand why. If folks have seen fit to provide free L2 charging locally in order to promote EV use, I don't see why I shouldn't take advantage of it as long as I am not depriving someone else of it's use. And if I live 5 mins from a Supercharger, why shouldn't I take advantage of being able to charge there when not on a trip? Tesla factored in the price of lifetime supercharging into the price of their cars and like everything else, some people will use more of it and some people will use less of it, but presumably it all balances out. Why should people who can supercharge conveniently apologize for using it that way?

 

[Chopr147]

All good reasons for buying a Tesla. But as SMAlset mentioned : Did you actually forget to mention it's so much fun to drive?!!

Fun to drive is at the top of my list! I look forward to my 3 hour trips upstate, something I did not do in my Yukon.

 

[Chopr147]

I see some of that sentiment as well and don't quite understand why. If folks have seen fit to provide free L2 charging locally in order to promote EV use, I don't see why I shouldn't take advantage of it as long as I am not depriving someone else of it's use. And if I live 5 mins from a Supercharger, why shouldn't I take advantage of being able to charge there when not on a trip? Tesla factored in the price of lifetime supercharging into the price of their cars and like everything else, some people will use more of it and some people will use less of it, but presumably it all balances out. Why should people who can supercharge conveniently apologize for using it that way?

I agree with you here. Sometimes when I return home from upstate I stop at the supercharger to get a full charge first. Why not?

 

[Skotty]

Awesome. Glad you like your car.

Some will speak overly negative of autopilot, supercharging, safety focus, etc, while missing the obvious point that Tesla is doing it and pretty much no one else is. Tesla should be applauded for that. Some will speak overly positive of those same things and overlook the realities of these features not being perfect and still having problems. Reality lands somewhere in between.

I bought my Tesla and I support Tesla for one simple reason. Because of their mission, and the purpose behind it. Well, okay. Two reasons. The second being their ability to effectively execute and stay in business. Lots of solid businesses out there, and lots of dreamers out there who want to build a better future, but Tesla has the magic sauce that manages to be both at the same time. That doesn't happen much.

 

[SmartElectric]

Where did you see the announcement for th lower over night rates. Can’t find anything on google.

My 2c/kWh in Ontario thread:
Ontario Canada : overnight 2c/kWh EV charging price plan

 

[SmartElectric]

Sorry...just realized I read your post wrong but it was Paul Bliss who reported to 2 cent night time rate. I will try to find it.

Here:
Ontario Canada : overnight 2c/kWh EV charging price plan

 

[daniel]

I agree with you here. Sometimes when I return home from upstate I stop at the supercharger to get a full charge first. Why not?

I'm certainly not going to say you shouldn't! But for me the cost of a full charge would not be worth the time it takes. When I get home after a long drive, I just want to get out of the car, unpack my stuff, make a meal, etc. I would not extend my trip with a half-hour stop at a charger just to save a few bucks.

But if Tesla gave you free supercharging for life, you've got every right to do so.