so does tesla not make any money if you purchase a $35k tesla? it feels like they're missing a chunk of a market, because its seems like theres a population of the market that would purchase a tesla if more people knew a $35k option was available.. and i'm not talking about the people that will just purchase a $45k model 3, i'm talking about the people that will be turned off and instead choose another car that is $35k.
People should not just look at the
initial cost of the car but also the
cost of ownership and the
resale value of the car.
When I bought my
Model 3 LR AWD I was initially considering buying a
$25k compact car but after doing
a
quick napkin towel calculation I realized that a
$50k Model 3 would cost me over all the same amount,
for my giving commute which is 65 miles one way.
Here is an example, not my particular case, but a more general situation:
- Typical user would keep his/her car for
60,000 miles for
4 years.
- The
resale value is 50 % of the original cost after 4 years (may be not really scientific but for illustration)
- The cost of electricity when charging at home is
$0.10 / kWh (approximation)
- The cost of gas is
$4 / gallon (approximation)
- A typical compact car has a
30 miles / gallon fuel consumption (mix of highway and city driving)
- A Model 3 has a range of
200 miles for 50 kWh (bold approximation number)
- I will use the
$40,000 Model 3 SR+ in this example, which is more common than the $35,000 Model 3 SR.
So (if I make the correct math) a
60,000 miles would cost a total of
$1,500 of electricity and
$8,000 of fuel.
The
very simple formula that I use is as follow:
Total Cost = Initial cost - used sale price + gas or electricity consumption
Now in the case of the
Model 3 SR+ I get the following value:
4 years and 60,000 miles with Tesla Model 3 SR+
Total cost = $40,000 - (50% of $40,000) + $1,500 =
$21,500
To get the same total cost,
I need to use a $27,000 car, such as Toyota Corolla / CR-V, Honda Civic, Mazda 3...
4 years and 60,000 miles with "Compact" car
Total cost = $27,000 - (50% of $27,000) + $8,000 =
$21,500
This is of course a
very simplified calculation, as I ignored other costs like maintenance, insurance, sales taxes,
and resale value is approximate..., but this give you an idea that for 4 years and 60,000 miles.
- If you buy
an ICE car more that $27,000, then
a $40,000 Model 3 SR+ might be finally cheaper.
