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At the cost of the car $35,000 plus tax, plus the need to install a charging station at home, the cost of electricity usage you aren't saving anything. You are paying more upfront for the car alone. In 10 years you will have "saved" from buying about $15,000 in fuel but you paid $15,000 more for the car upfront. Then in 10 years or actually less is when things on the Tesla will need costly repairs.
This only applies to people that already have a car that they want to keep. If they want to spend money on a car that's revolutionary, then $15,000 out the door is not a big deal. People that are in the place to buy a new car probably won't mind.
That's very low compared to the $1,200 I spend a year on gas!
On average a gasoline car is paying about 2 cents a mile in taxes. If you drive 15K miles that's $300 in taxes you are avoiding. As these cars become more popular that will need to be addressed, some states are already leveraging fees on them.
Add in the fuel tax expense they are avoiding and you're back to $1200....
04-10-2016, 02:58 PM
i7pXFLbhE3gq
n/a posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by eddie1278
At the cost of the car $35,000 plus tax, plus the need to install a charging station at home, the cost of electricity usage you aren't saving anything. You are paying more upfront for the car alone. In 10 years you will have "saved" from buying about $15,000 in fuel but you paid $15,000 more for the car upfront. Then in 10 years or actually less is when things on the Tesla will need costly repairs.
Paid $15,000 more compared to what? A cheap econobox that a person buying a Model 3 wasn't going to purchase anyway?
Paid $15,000 more compared to what? A cheap econobox that a person buying a Model 3 wasn't going to purchase anyway?
Given the Tesla Model 3 looks like the offspring of a B&W and a Porsche, and will likely feature a 0-60 time of 5.8 seconds or less for the base model, and 5.0 seconds or less for an extra $4K (the estimated cost to upgrade to AWD), the price would likely be at least as much if not more with an ICE. One could reasonably argue that there is $0 premium for the non-ICE aspect of the Model 3.
The same cannot be said of the competition. Whereas the Model 3 looks like a $35-50K car with batteries and an electric motor thrown in for free, the $37.500 Chevy Bolt looks like a $15-18K car with batteries and an electric motor added for an additional $20K.
This only applies to people that already have a car that they want to keep. If they want to spend money on a car that's revolutionary, then $15,000 out the door is not a big deal. People that are in the place to buy a new car probably won't mind.
That's not my point. Many people buy these cars for the sole purpose of saving money on buying gas so with electric cars you obviously don't use gas. So they pay more upfront to save on gas the logic makes no sense.
Lastly there is nothing "revolutionary" about an electric car.
04-10-2016, 03:39 PM
i7pXFLbhE3gq
n/a posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by eddie1278
That's not my point. Many people buy these cars for the sole purpose of saving money on buying gas so with electric cars you obviously don't use gas. So they pay more upfront to save on gas the logic makes no sense.
Lastly there is nothing "revolutionary" about an electric car.
The "pay more upfront" part is where your argument fails.
At 35k, it doesn't cost much if any more than a decently equipped ICE car.
That's not my point. Many people buy these cars for the sole purpose of saving money on buying gas so with electric cars you obviously don't use gas. So they pay more upfront to save on gas the logic makes no sense.
Lastly there is nothing "revolutionary" about an electric car.
I've seen a few people estimate operating costs based on peak electricity rates. Anyone who buys an electric car is likely to charge it at off-peak rates. Many (most?) large power companies now offer EV pricing plans with a special meter, and charge below off-peak rates during an 8-hour daily window, or significantly below off-peak rates during a 4-6 hour daily window. Here in northern VA, the standard rate is 10-11 cents/kWh whereas the EV rate during a 4-hour daily window is less than 2 cents/kWH.
The "pay more upfront" part is where your argument fails.
At 35k, it doesn't cost much if any more than a decently equipped ICE car.
I personally never heard of an ice car. 2016 Honda Civics and Toyota Camrys are in the 18k range. These are the type of buyers that make up the majority of the buyers of this Tesla 3 in my opinion. The people who buy econobox cars and are only concerned with fuel mileage.
Add in the fuel tax expense they are avoiding and you're back to $1200....
Yeah, eventually as PHEVs and BEVs become more common you'll see more states charging either flatrate or mileage-based fees in lieu of gas taxes to pay for roads`.
Take a 328i which is more comparable, similar price for the vehicle.
328i would cost around $1,600/yr with CA average gas prices.
Model S would cost around $744/yr in my part of CA for my zone, others are lower. Call it $700 as the Model 3 should be more efficient and our rates are higher than most of the state.
On more of an apples to apples even after assuming a $300 fee/yr, it's still decent over a similar car. If you want to save money, of course that's not what you buy. You drive that econo box that people wouldn't buy which isn't exactly true as Model 3 (probably the second generation) is on the short list of things I'd potentially look at to replace my econo box which costs about $150/yr more in gas than a Tesla Model 3 would cost in electricity. Nothing to do with saving money though. If I wanted to save money I'd just buy another econo box.
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