PSA -- Watch for Deer!

[vreihen]

I figured as much about the insurance totaling a 2-month-old car for a soft-object collision. We have a friend who owned a newly-launched composite supercar ($150K list price…with dealers charging way above that) for a few months, and it ran into a concrete wall. Given the hand-built nature of that car and all of the carbon fiber that was swept off the pavement, he assumed that the insurance would total it. Nope. They paid almost $100K to rebuild it.

Regarding EV range anxiety, how often do you find yourself traveling 100+ miles away from home into the boonies? Most people buy cars for the worst case (road trip for the holidays), when an EV will meet 98% of their daily needs charging at home. I have the Cummins diesel pickup for long road trips, but actually rented a gas car (brand new 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk with 21 miles on the clock!) for a three-day weekend road trip down to South Carolina from upstate NY when we were property shopping back in the spring. Put over 2,000 miles on that car, and the rental fee was offset by saving on wear and tear on our own vehicles.

Coming from a gas vehicle, you need to stop thinking that an EV is like one. Gas cars are dependent on gasoline stations, and new/potential EV owners are quick to think of where to buy electrons. Treat an EV like a smartphone. Charge it at home, and leave every morning with a full battery. In over two years of ownership of the i3 with only 82 miles total range, I have only charged away from home three times. Once was driving home the day I picked it up, and the other two were day trips to National Drive Electric Week car shows that were just beyond my round-trip range but had free chargers available to top up.

Feel free to check out PlugShare to see the charging station density near you, as you may be surprised:

https://www.plugshare.com/

Regarding the purchase of a L2 charger for home, my OpenEVSE kit cost me about $400 and plugs into a 240V/50A welder outlet that was already in the garage. Many newer homes already have unused 240V/30A electric clothes dryer outlets in their garages, which are useful if you buy a charger that has a programmable 24A rate limiter like the OpenEVSE. Either way, treat the purchase as a lifetime investment for accounting purposes, because it is unlikely that most people would ever go without an EV in their driveway after experiencing one.

On a side note, the last time that I touched a fuel nozzle was filling up my diesel pickup coming home from our SC property closing on July 5th. It actually felt icky to handle the nozzle!!!

[emiliosic]

No SUV? You need a 3rd row

[ken830]

I ordered my first Tesla in 2012 and now own an early 2013 Model S and a 2018 Model 3 Performance. About to order an X and already have reservation for Cybertruck. In a couple years, I’ll be cruising in my new Roadster! Just go with the Tesla. All the stuff about poor build quality or whatever is the same stuff every manufacturer deals with. The misinformation and amplification of “issues” with Tesla is strong because there are a lot of players (traditional auto companies, dealers, labor unions, insurance companies, oil and energy companies, solar manufacturers, battery and cell suppliers, lidar and sensors manufacturers, autonomous driving companies, space and defense companies, Russian space program, and media outlets that don’t receive any advertising revenue, wall street institutional investors) who are threatened by Tesla and Elon’s success. It’s especially clear when, for example, someone says other manufacturer’s know how to manufacture higher quality cars at scale while knowing full well that not a single manufacturer can build in quantities that even approach Tesla’s run rates (currently 1M annually).

If there are any minor issues with the car, Tesla will always take care of it. The important thing for you and your family is safety and it doesn’t get safer than a Tesla. Tesla also is the most energy efficient which saves you money. Then there is range and charging network that simply work. And then simply compare the amount of passenger and cargo space and it’ll become clear that Tesla is the best at design, integration, and packaging… By far.

Plus, the reliability of the battery and the drivetrain is unparalleled. My 2013 Model S is approaching 9 years old and 150k miles. The motor drives exactly as it did when new. And the battery capacity is still sitting at 93%. My 2018 Model 3 Performance has had zero need for service although I should probably rotate the tires.

Finally, there’s really no competition in terms of price:range, price:performance, price:features ratios.

[kreene1987]

I will add that of the 13 people that I know that own Teslas (I just counted) not one of them has moved away to a different EV or back to gas. They all freaking LOVE their cars and wouldn’t trade for anything other than a newer Tesla.

It’s almost like all of the hubub is the big 3 making us THINK they suck for some reason…

@Eric_Inovelli make sure you discuss residual value losses as a part of your total settlement. Now that the car has a major accident on the carfax, it has depreciated in value significantly (up to 20% if you ask me). This is something that insurance should cover to make you whole on the devaluation of your car due to a “no fault” accident.

[Eric_Inovelli]

@kreene1987

Correct. The Acura was quick (no question), but the 40+ pulls in the infiniti were surprisingly moreso, and the handling was tighter and more “sporty”. The Acura had a better steering feel though.

Dang, I may need to check out Infiniti. I’m such an Acura fanboy though… ugh the decisions.

@PJF

Tesla knew that something was needed to make press noise so they made sure the drivetrain was capable of fast 0-60 times (with above 60 not mattering)

That’s a great point. It definitely got my attention!

@vreihen

They paid almost $100K to rebuild it.

Wow. That’s insane.

@vreihen

Regarding EV range anxiety, how often do you find yourself traveling 100+ miles away from home into the boonies? Most people buy cars for the worst case (road trip for the holidays), when an EV will meet 98% of their daily needs charging at home. I have the Cummins diesel pickup for long road trips, but actually rented a gas car (brand new 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk with 21 miles on the clock!) for a three-day weekend road trip down to South Carolina from upstate NY when we were property shopping back in the spring. Put over 2,000 miles on that car, and the rental fee was offset by saving on wear and tear on our own vehicles.

Yeah this is a great point – my daily commute is like 8 miles to/from the office and then every now and then I take my daughters to random events around the city. This was my reasoning behind getting a lease as I don’t typically drive very far.

@vreihen

Feel free to check out PlugShare to see the charging station density near you, as you may be surprised:

https://www.plugshare.com/

WTH Michigan lol?

Kidding, I had to zoom in:

@vreihen

Regarding the purchase of a L2 charger for home, my OpenEVSE kit cost me about $400 and plugs into a 240V/50A welder outlet that was already in the garage. Many newer homes already have unused 240V/30A electric clothes dryer outlets in their garages, which are useful if you buy a charger that has a programmable 24A rate limiter like the OpenEVSE. Either way, treat the purchase as a lifetime investment for accounting purposes, because it is unlikely that most people would ever go without an EV in their driveway after experiencing one.

Yes, the other issue I have right now is unfortunately I’m in a rental house, so there’s not much I can do until the lease ends. But, even if I have the L1 charger that charges super slow, I suppose with my low daily commute, it would recharge itself overnight.

@vreihen

On a side note, the last time that I touched a fuel nozzle was filling up my diesel pickup coming home from our SC property closing on July 5th. It actually felt icky to handle the nozzle!!!

Lol, that sounds awesome.

@emiliosic

No SUV? You need a 3rd row

Ha, considered an MDX, but I can’t seem to get out of driving a car… I love being low to the ground. Anything else feels like driving a bus lol.

@ken830

the reliability of the battery and the drivetrain is unparalleled. My 2013 Model S is approaching 9 years old and 150k miles. The motor drives exactly as it did when new. And the battery capacity is still sitting at 93%. My 2018 Model 3 Performance has had zero need for service although I should probably rotate the tires.

Dang, that’s honestly super impressive. Add in the fact that there’s no oil changes, or other traditional tune-ups and that’s pretty awesome.

@ken830

Finally, there’s really no competition in terms of price:range, price:performance, price:features ratios.

Yeah, this is definitely something I’m noticing the more research I’ve put in. Quite impressive.

I was really wanting the S, but definitely out of my price range right now lol. The 3 looks awesome though and right on point with the Acura in terms of price range, but you definitely get more for the money.

@kreene1987

It’s almost like all of the hubub is the big 3 making us THINK they suck for some reason…

This is definitely the case – especially in Michigan. I grew up on the east side of the state where everyone and their mother worked for GM, Ford or Chrysler. I would say 1 out of every 4 cars had a bumper sticker on it that said something like, “you’re not American if you buy foreign cars” or, “support the Big 3” or something crazy like that. It was definitely a sin to buy anything foreign (I know Tesla isn’t foreign, but you get the point lol).

I had GM cars for the longest time (Oldsmobile Alero, Chevrolet Impala, Pontiac Grand Prix) but when I moved to the west side of the state, no one really cared and I ended up buying my first Acura TL and that thing was the best car I’ve ever had. It’s still running at 175k miles and I never had any issues with it.

@kreene1987

@Eric_Inovelli make sure you discuss residual value losses as a part of your total settlement. Now that the car has a major accident on the carfax, it has depreciated in value significantly (up to 20% if you ask me). This is something that insurance should cover to make you whole on the devaluation of your car due to a “no fault” accident.

Yeah great point. I’m curious on how that works with leases? This car is luckily a lease and the last time I traded in my lease (2 mo ago), no one ever said anything about whether or not I had any accidents or if I serviced the car regularly, etc. Maybe they just ran the VIN without me knowing and saw that it was fine… idk.

[kreene1987]

@Eric_Inovelli

I’m curious on how that works with leases?

No idea, I’ve always bought cars outright. Honestly it’s probably not an issue UNLESS you intend to purchase at the end. My BIL turned in a 3x crashed 3 series and it wasn’t an issue (car was absolute garbage 320i anyway) so probably nothing needed on that.

[ken830]

And with Tesla, you don’t need to buy or install an L2 EVSE. The included “Mobile connector” just plugs into a normal 110v outlet or a 240V outlet. You may need to change it out to a NEMA 14-50, but that’s extremely cheap to do.

[harjms]

@ken830

You may need to change it out to a NEMA 14-50, but that’s extremely cheap to do.

I guess my cheap and your cheap may differ. It’d cost me almost $2,000 to have a 14-50 circuit installed in my garage. My garage isn’t attached and only has 120V. I’d have to have an electrician bring in a 60A+ subpanel in in order to get 240 that would allow me to even install a 14-50 outlet in.

I did not know about the mobile connector having the capability between switching between 120 and 240 though. That’s a pretty nice package there.

[ken830]

@harjms

I guess my cheap and your cheap may differ. It’d cost me almost $2,000 to have a 14-50 circuit installed in my garage. My garage isn’t attached and only has 120V. I’d have to have an electrician bring in a 60A+ subpanel in in order to get 240 that would allow me to even install a 14-50 outlet in.

I did not know about the mobile connector having the capability between switching between 120 and 240 though. That’s a pretty nice package there.

Definitely YMMV for each individual situation… my comment was based on the assumption that a 240V outlet already exist in the garage for a dryer or something… If that’s the case, and assuming the circuit is 50A, then it’s simply switching out the receptacle, which can be had for <$10. On the other hand, if you need a new service, upgrade an existing service, if you need to put in a subpanel, or even simply running conduit to the garage because your service/breaker box is on the other end of the house, then yeah… it could cost a bit… Electricians are also in short supply especially in parts of the country where EVs are really popular.

All of Tesla’s EVSEs are really nice in terms of performance, compactness, and styling… and they’re much cheaper than most options out there. They even sell a J1772 version of their wall connector now… before that, many people modified theirs with a J1772 head for use with other vehicles.

[uSlackr]

So glad you are OK. I’ve hit one and one has hit me. Never this bad tho.

[Eric_Inovelli]

Update: Finally got her back - took a while!

Maybe next time on the Tesla when the lease expires

[mamber]

Love the color combo

@Eric_Inovelli

Maybe next time on the Tesla when the lease expires

I dunno… I think Tesla’s electric/electronic technology is great, but in that price range I can’t get over these aspects which is the same reaction I get every time a sit inside a Tesla…

@vreihen

I have never sat in a Tesla, but have heard plenty of complaints about poor fit/finish and a “cheap” feeling in the cabin.

@Eric_Inovelli

that’s the one thing that I was noticing on the Tesla’s – I’ve only gone off pictures, but it does seem rather “cheap” feeling.

@kerbs17

it’s more of a minimalist approach and I suppose isn’t quite as luxurious feeling in some regards as other cars in it’s price range,

@mbbush

They do well in places where others fall short (over the air updates, intuitive software), and fall short in areas where others do well (“basic” stuff about how to build a good car at scale, like using automotive-grade components and overall build quality).