TRUE Cost of a Tesla Model 3 After 40,000 Miles! - YouTube

Big shout out to today’s sponsor who made this video possible, Squarespace.

Now, according to a survey by FullyCharged, the biggest concern for people who are thinking

of buying an electric vehicle is the cost so I figured since I’ve owned the best selling

electric car, the Tesla Model 3, for a year and a half I’m going to show you exactly

how much it has cost me to own it and drive it 40,000 miles.

To do this I’m going to get geeky with some numbers and go over my top 5 categories of

expenses so let’s dive right in.

First, the price of my Long Range Tesla Model 3 including taxes was $59,422.

But I was eligible for the full $7,500 tax credit so after factoring in that which I

eventually recieved, the actual cost of my Model 3 was $51,922.

I did have a very small, low-interest loan for a couple months but I quickly realized

that I wanted to keep the car long term so I paid it off.

We’ll say the little money I paid in interest brought the total to a nice even $52,000.

So yes, relatively a pretty expensive upfront cost, but let’s talk about how this car

saves money.

Obviously one of the best advantages of owning an electric car is not buying gas anymore,

and it’s even better if you’re like me and you drive a lot while living in a location

that has cheap electricity, such as beautiful Louisville KY.

My car's electricity falls into two categories: home charging and Supercharging.

In its first 40,000 miles, my Model 3 used 9,622 kWh of electricity.

Of which, 9,428 was from home charging and the other 194 was from Supercharging.

I've spent a total of $54 at Superchargers, and my cost to charge at home overnight during

off-peak hours is $0.07/kWh which means I've spent $660 on home charging.

However, 100% of the electricity does not always make it from the outlet to the turning

of the wheels.

This is called "wall-to-wheels" efficiency, and in one of the original Tesla documents

they estimated an 86% wall-to-wheels efficiency.

It's most likely improved since then though, but if we also factor in the small amount

of battery drain from leaving the car sitting somewhere unplugged, 86% is probably a fair

estimate so based on that, my home charging actually cost $767 so that means the total

electricity cost to travel 40,000 miles was $821.

That’s actually really impressive.

To put it into perspective, if I drove 40,000 miles in a similarly priced gas car (such

as the BMW 3 series which gets 30 MPG) at an average gas cost of $2.50 per gallon that

comes to a total of $3,333 spent on gas.

That means compared to a BMW 3 Series my total estimated fuel savings over 17 months was

over $2,500.

That’s nearly $150 savings each month, just on gas alone.

And as Elon Musk would say, that’s “really cool"

What's also cool is the total cost of maintenance after 40,000 miles has been absolutely $0.

Not even new tires yet (even though I will get some before winter hits).

I’ve had 3 minor repairs done to my car, all of which were covered for free under the

warranty and each time the Tesla Mobile Ranger came to my location and fixed the issue on

the spot without me having to go in for service.

Since I haven't owned my Model 3 for 2 years yet the only recommended maintenance according

to the manual is tire rotations every 10,000 miles.

But I have a local tire shop in my city that gives free tire rotations to Tesla owners

(again another reason to love Louisville) so still nothing spent on maintenance.

Now, many people have commented on my videos saying ”What about the cost of a new battery?”

Well, what if it never needs a new battery?

You see, since I got my Model 3, the estimated range has actually increased by 10 miles.

Here’s how it happened.

First my estimated range went from 310 to 325 miles as a result of a free software update.

However, the Tesla Stats app says my estimated range is currently 320 miles which is actually

in the 99th percentile so basically I've lost about 5 miles of estimated range after driving

40,000 miles.

Based on this, at 400,000 miles my Model 3 could still have an estimated range of around

275 miles.

If I'm not mistaken, there are electric cars coming out right now with less range than

that yet they cost 3x as much as my Model 3.

Pretty clear winner there, right?

Now, since we’re talking about car prices let’s see how my Model 3 has depreciated.

I went on a few different sites including CarGurus, Edmunds, AutoTrader, and Kelly Blue

Book and got the estimated value based on my car's options and mileage.

For my Long Range Model 3 (which is in very good condition) with 40,000 miles it’s worth

about $42,000 according to these sites.

Remember I purchased it for $52,000 so it’s lost an estimated $10,000 in value so far.

This is right on par, if not better, than the rule of thumb that says almost any new

car will lose about 20% of its value in the first year.

But this is not an actual expense unless you plan to sell the car at some point.

With a Tesla it’s a little different because the car is constantly improving as far as

the software goes.

But the software improvements also can improve the actual range and performance of the car

itself which is incredibly unique to Tesla vehicles right now.

That along with the promise of Tesla’s future robo-taxi service which is designed to make

money for the owner, it makes deprecation seem like an unimportant afterthought for

Tesla owners.

Finally we have the miscellaneous expenses including my insurance which costs about $2,000

per year for both my Model 3 and my wife’s car.

Remember from our comparison earlier that I’m saving almost $150 a month on fuel so

my fuel savings basically pays for my insurance cost which is pretty awesome.

Speaking of insurance I paid a $500 deductible to get my bumper replaced when something flew

up and hit it while I was driving on the highway.

Also 2 of my 3 speeding tickets I’ve gotten in my life have come since getting my Model

3 so that’s one con about owning such a quick car: it’s super easy to speed without

realizing it until it’s too late.

So now I try to put it in Autopilot as much as I can, and I also invested in this $200

cordless radar detector just to be on the safe side.

I’ve also spent about $150 on various other Model 3 accessories including floor mats,

a console wrap, and a screen protector.

I paid around $900 to get my NEMA 14-50 outlet installed in my garage which is on the expensive

side and isn’t really a requirement for all Tesla owners.

Some can get by with just a normal outlet.

Another completely optional expense was $1,700 to get the entire front of my Model 3 wrapped

in a clear paint protection film because I drive so much and plan to keep the car for

a long time.

But I also use my Model 3 for business purposes.

I drive Uber Select and Lyft Lux with it, and of course I make YouTube videos with it

and also drive it to job sites when I film weddings and things like that so my business

mileage deductions so far have actually saved me about $4,500 in taxes.

That’s pretty amazing, considering this is virtually a maintenance-free car that doesn’t

require gas.

So that’s how much it has cost me to own and drive my Model 3 during its first 40,000

miles.

It's been one of the best purchases I’ve ever made, and I look forward to the next

40,000 miles and beyond.

That was such a Buzz thing to say.

So Buzz of me.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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