Is it cheaper to own an electric car in bay area? Taking model 3 as an example, its initial price is huge but with free supercharging I don't need to pay anything for fuel. Gas prices over $4 makes it difficult to own a gasoline car even though initial investment might be low. Wanted to hear thoughts from people who own cars in bay area. Tc 150K
I spent a lot of time on this subject. You will need to consider your lifestyle , how much and where you drive. Add 1+ hr to charge your Tesla at supercharger. The cheapest that I know is to own something like a Toyota Corolla hybrid especially if you drive a lot - the gas mileage is best and it’s a decent but cheap car. If your work provides free charging and there are free stalls to charge when you arrive to work, you can count that in but if you like to go outdoors - you may get range anxiety up in the mountains.
Good to know. Yeah going to mountains will be one of my main weekend activities
Plug In hybrid is even better.
I have been leasing electric cars since 2013. I am on my second one but never had a Tesla. I think it’s worth it only in 2 cases: if you have a second a car in the house, possibly a gas car AND you have chargers at work. I have been doing calculations on leasing/owning Tesla for couple of years and TBH, according to me the high price kind of offsets the savings you are about to have. Specially it’s a big no no if you don’t have a charger at home. For example, right now I have a Chevy Bolt EV, which I got for 0 down, 36 months lease, 12k miles/year from Roseville for <$265/month. I got $2500 cash back from CA and $500 from PG&E. I have free chargers at work and I never had to charge at home. I live in Fremont and work in San Jose. I can go for a drive to SF and come back in any random day without any range anxiety.
Higher insurance and repair costs too
Higher insurance sure. As for repair, I actually never had to change or repair anything in my leased EVs ever. But then again maybe it’s a lease thing and I never owned them that’s why. The only time I spent money on the EV is putting some cheap tires before returning the lease.
That is completely untrue.
A Tesla is nowhere near the cheapest new car you can buy. https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g25105816/cheapest-new-cars-2019/
Some of it comes down to what you want to spend your time sitting in. For comparison, something like a Honda Clarity gets effective 67mpg. Your annual gas bill might hit $600/yr if you drive a lot. You’ll save a lot on the purchase price and get flexibility.
If u think average cost for cheapest car per annum would be $2000, then you need own Tesla for almost 20-25 years. Tesla might easily work for those many years
No free super charging on Model 3.
OP: 150k TC in the Bay Area is buy-a-used-Corolla money. Be careful you don't overspend.
^This
You will go to charging station every other day? 1.6L car is much cheaper to maintain than a fancy electric. Buy a Honda Civic or Corolla. With that TC you won't look good driving a Tesla.
Hybrids nowadays give 50 miles to a gallon. If you drive the average 15k a year you will spend $1200 on gas a year. It'll take you around 15 years to break even with a tesla. Now add the hassle of charging, range limit, unknown reliability and terrible resale values (the battery might not last 15 years)
You want a Tesla, but at are worried about gas vs electric prices? You can’t afford it then. What’s with the tagged companies??
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