So, the post title is admittedly a little bit of a clickbait title, but I do feel this public service announcement about the dangers of free public charging stations needs to be said...so here is my story:
I was a true convert to the EV world since my first Chevy Volt, and eventually upgraded to the 2017 volt after winning a 1 week test drive on the gen 2 volt at the auto show by having the least amount of gas used in Ontario (my average was 0.6 l/100km). That week with the gen2 volt made me want to upgrade, which I did about 7 months later after getting a good deal on a trade in, and I love(d) the car.
Along the way, my wife's VW Golf TDI was part of the emissions scandal, and I convinced her to take the buyback from VW and put the money towards a Bolt, our first full EV....she loves it....but I digress....back to the point of the post
4 months ago I was happily out with my wife and 7 month old kid in her bolt, and we stopped at Ikea in Burlington to top up the charge on the DC Fast charge units there and grab an ice cream/do some grocery shopping....lo and behold, I saw my first Model 3 out in the wild and I was instantly in love with it
I went home thinking, its too expensive, you have a perfectly good car with your 2017 volt, you cant afford it....etc, etc.....
Well, 3 days later I put a deposit down 'for the heck of it', figuring I would have at least a year wait for the car since I wasn't a line waiter, or former Tesla owner (this was a couple weeks before the floodgates opened and you could still make a reservation and had to wait before configuration emails were sent). At the time, I battled with questions like: "what if the rebate gets cancelled", "what if I cant sell my volt privately", "what am I thinking looking at such an expensive car"...etc....
So, then I get the 'your car can be configured' email 3 days after placing my reservation, and at that point the real decision process came to a head, and I figured F-it....I'm going to "treat-yo-self" (Parks and Rec reference) and I committed to order.
Fast forward ~ 4 months, and my volt is sold, I picked up my model 3 AWD yesterday and it does not disappoint in the least.....
But I still put complete blame on Ikea for the hole in my bank account, because if they didn't offer free charging (and cheap ice cream) I probably wouldn't have had that chance encounter with my first model 3 in the wild and I would be less poor
"Free Charging" will forever be an oxymoron in my book because my Ikea experience 'cost' me about $90k
But, overall....its totally worth it!
To all new owners, congrats....to those still waiting, it will all be worth it when you finally get delivery
I was a true convert to the EV world since my first Chevy Volt, and eventually upgraded to the 2017 volt after winning a 1 week test drive on the gen 2 volt at the auto show by having the least amount of gas used in Ontario (my average was 0.6 l/100km). That week with the gen2 volt made me want to upgrade, which I did about 7 months later after getting a good deal on a trade in, and I love(d) the car.
Along the way, my wife's VW Golf TDI was part of the emissions scandal, and I convinced her to take the buyback from VW and put the money towards a Bolt, our first full EV....she loves it....but I digress....back to the point of the post
4 months ago I was happily out with my wife and 7 month old kid in her bolt, and we stopped at Ikea in Burlington to top up the charge on the DC Fast charge units there and grab an ice cream/do some grocery shopping....lo and behold, I saw my first Model 3 out in the wild and I was instantly in love with it
I went home thinking, its too expensive, you have a perfectly good car with your 2017 volt, you cant afford it....etc, etc.....
Well, 3 days later I put a deposit down 'for the heck of it', figuring I would have at least a year wait for the car since I wasn't a line waiter, or former Tesla owner (this was a couple weeks before the floodgates opened and you could still make a reservation and had to wait before configuration emails were sent). At the time, I battled with questions like: "what if the rebate gets cancelled", "what if I cant sell my volt privately", "what am I thinking looking at such an expensive car"...etc....
So, then I get the 'your car can be configured' email 3 days after placing my reservation, and at that point the real decision process came to a head, and I figured F-it....I'm going to "treat-yo-self" (Parks and Rec reference
) and I committed to order.Fast forward ~ 4 months, and my volt is sold, I picked up my model 3 AWD yesterday and it does not disappoint in the least.....
But I still put complete blame on Ikea for the hole in my bank account, because if they didn't offer free charging (and cheap ice cream) I probably wouldn't have had that chance encounter with my first model 3 in the wild and I would be less poor
"Free Charging" will forever be an oxymoron in my book because my Ikea experience 'cost' me about $90k
But, overall....its totally worth it!
To all new owners, congrats....to those still waiting, it will all be worth it when you finally get delivery
