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The Model 3 ruined my life

inc55

Go Kart Champion
Ever since I test drove the Tesla Model 3 Performance, my GTI seems like junk. The instant acceleration of that motor was just insane. I have never felt such power. Not only that, but the car handled so well and the steering felt really nice. I have been crunching numbers ever since. The whole idea of electric just blows me away. I could set the cars AC to be on without worry of carbon monoxide in the garage. The gas savings of $80 a month are very appealing. The tax incentive of $7,500 would have made it a sealed deal but now that dropped to around $1,875. My next car goal was a BMW but now I don't even want that. I want instant power and I love that there is no engine or exhaust noise. Arizona has some amazing electricity rates especially if you own an EV. It would cost me about $1 to charge from 11pm-6am. Also, I would save a lot in vehicle registration costs. It would cost the Tesla around $14 for 5 years of registration. It would cost my GTI around $300 a year plus oil changes and other maintenance. The standard range model 3 is nice too but I have my eyes on the long range AWD version. Those power figures are close to the performance 3. Also, those self driving features seem really neat.
 

Finglonga

Drag Racing Champion
Tesla are just the Guinea pigs of the electric car, when other brands come on they will be left behind. As said recently, Musk has factories making batteries, the others don't, so now he has his foot in the door he will sell the batteries to other manufacturers. Give it a few years for the rest to catch up and I think the BIG thing will be hydrogen.
 

vincevtr

Ready to race!
yea Id actually consider waiting another car ownership cycle(maybe another 7 years?) before going EV. Right now its too much money to pay for something that has so many quality issues. imo Finglonga has it right, Tesla wont last long when other manufacturers catch up. whats gonna sell more? a "model 1" variant or an electric honda civic? EV's are intriguing but it seems too early in the development stage to me. Things like charge time(anything longer than 15min is too long), on-track cooling, battery fire prevention, weight efficiency, etc still need R&D.
 

dr_mat

Go Kart Champion
It depends on usage pattern. For second family cars, or for commuting cars they are a complete no brainer. Get your boss to install a charger at work too and you're laughing. For a primary family vehicle it's a little harder to deal with. Yes there are reliability issues with some of the Teslas, but the plus points probably outweight the negatives. There are tons of reliability issues with the Golfs we discuss on these forums too, we are just used to these types of issues, where the e- brigade have new issues we don't really know how to deal with yet.


If you can charge at home, an electric car is a very, very, viable car, and the Teslas are the leading brand right now. And you have the added advantage that you're not producing localised pollution when you take the kids to school, etc.
 

Bäsemödel

Go Kart Champion
I too test drove a 3 (i have no intentions of buying one but there was a test drive being hosted in my area) and it was amazing... only you can decide if you want to be on the bleeding edge of the EV world or if you want to wait until things are more "stable". Whats the lead time on a model 3 right now anyway?
 

dr_mat

Go Kart Champion
To be honest I think we're already well past the bleeding edge. That was the guys running the e-Mini prototypes ten years ago, where the batteries replaced the entire rear seat area /and/ the fuel tank and could still only see the car for 50 miles. The current generation of cars have already come a long way from there.

Early Nissan Leaf batteries are failing too, but that was ten years ago too. Teslas on the other hand are showing plenty of evidence the battery pack will run for half a million miles without significant charge loss.


As for speed of charging .. there's 350KW chargers coming now .. !!!!
 

vincevtr

Ready to race!
nice, a 350KW charger could definitely sway me. apparently they charge pretty quick up til about 80% where it slows down significantly. but it seems a 350KW charger could definitely cut it down to 15min(or even less!) to 80% which is pretty reasonable.
 

southpawboston

Drag Racing Champion
And just think if you had rooftop solar electric... charging could be free.

I did the math. I have a fairly small rooftop array (5kw) and I'm currently net-zero (I produce more than I consume, on a yearly average). With an electric car, I'd no longer be net-zero but my monthly electric bill might be something like $5-10.

I'm waiting for one more generation. EVs are almost there, but not quite. I want 300 mile range and affordable. The Hyundai Kona, Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt come close, but not quite. Of the three, the Hyundai actually seems the nicest. Tesla has way too much corporate instability for me to take them seriously enough to consider (what happens if they go bust in a year?). Plus they've been plagued with quality issues.
 

JC_451

Autocross Champion
The base model does 5.3 in the 0-60.

The one that rips a 3.2 second run off the line is $51,725 to start. The mid tier is slightly less blisteringly fast (4.4 seconds to 60) but it's $41,725 to start.

With a 40K budget I can't say I'm even considering a Model 3. With a 50K budget I kind of laugh at the idea of picking the Tesla.

I think I'll wait till lots of other manufacturers have thrown their hats in the EV ring. I assume they will make prettier vehicles as well.
 

inc55

Go Kart Champion
I too test drove a 3 (i have no intentions of buying one but there was a test drive being hosted in my area) and it was amazing... only you can decide if you want to be on the bleeding edge of the EV world or if you want to wait until things are more "stable". Whats the lead time on a model 3 right now anyway?

There are plenty in stock in Arizona. I can pick one up today if I wanted to.
 

inc55

Go Kart Champion
The base model does 5.3 in the 0-60.

The one that rips a 3.2 second run off the line is $51,725 to start. The mid tier is slightly less blisteringly fast (4.4 seconds to 60) but it's $41,725 to start.

With a 40K budget I can't say I'm even considering a Model 3. With a 50K budget I kind of laugh at the idea of picking the Tesla.

I think I'll wait till lots of other manufacturers have thrown their hats in the EV ring. I assume they will make prettier vehicles as well.

Haha, if the 3.2 second performance model was 52k I would get it right now. Their prices are 40k, 50k and 60k (Base, AWD, Performance AWD). Considering a Golf R costs 41k. I think for an extra 9k you get a beast of a car. I don't care if their 0-60's are similar. The Tesla will throw you back in your seat from any point from 0-70. The golf r needs to spool up and build full power from there.
 

inc55

Go Kart Champion
nice, a 350KW charger could definitely sway me. apparently they charge pretty quick up til about 80% where it slows down significantly. but it seems a 350KW charger could definitely cut it down to 15min(or even less!) to 80% which is pretty reasonable.

Plus to preserve the battery it is recommended not to charge beyond the 80% range.
 

Jovian

Drag Racing Champion
Once battery tech advances im in. But it’s so woefully sad right now. Performance wise electric is very fun with its power delivery.
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Tesla are just the Guinea pigs of the electric car, when other brands come on they will be left behind. As said recently, Musk has factories making batteries, the others don't, so now he has his foot in the door he will sell the batteries to other manufacturers. Give it a few years for the rest to catch up and I think the BIG thing will be hydrogen.


I agree that hydrogen is the future but I disagree that Tesla will be left behind others with the electric cars. I see other manufacturers who don't have an electric car on the road yet showing prototypes and quoting 1/4 mile and 0 to 60 times and no one is close to Tesla with Ludicrous mode which is available now. Fastest production car in the world 0 to 60. 2.27 seconds in 2017 so I'm sure they've surpassed that now.
 
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