Tesla Model 3 - Finally.

Stock sure has shot up this month.
 
Made a stupid little video of some of the footage I got from my Model 3 last year....

 
Today marks one year of ownership of our 2022 Model 3 LR. 26,600 miles to date.

It’s been a wonderful car, quite sporty in its handling, but a pleasure on long drives. And we’ve done lots of long drives: at least 4 to Florida, 2 to Indiana, 1 to DC and one longer one all the way to Ottawa. We charge exclusively at home unless on a trip, as reflected here:

52670184806_88bc5d98cf.jpg


Note: “Work” here is our N GA home. “Other” is friend’s homes or in just one case a Destination charger.

The only mechanical issue has been the rear defroster going inop. It was fixed under warranty, but it was noticed after our hit & run repair, so it may have been related.

Have rotated the tires twice. They appear to be good for at least 10,000 more miles.

So far, we have still never had to wait in line for a Supercharger. Have never come close to running out of juice on trips, usually trying to hit the next Supercharger with at least 15% remaining, and charging until we show at least that much remaining at the next Supercharger. That usually takes between 15 and 25 minutes, which for us is not a burden.

At home in TN we charge from a 240V 30A receptacle yielding about 24 miles of range per hour. We charge overnight to 80% for local driving, yielding about 265 miles of range, plenty for any conceivable local driving. Typically takes less than 4 hours to “top off” after a day’s running around.

I know it’s not uncommon to hear reports of new Teslas having quality control issues. Ours was delivered in perfect shape, and to date no rattles or clunks or other problems.

Another very nice feature is the Over-the-Air updates, gradually improving the car’s functionality over time.

In short, it’s a great car and we’d definitely consider another Tesla in the future. Maybe even the CyberTruck we have a deposit on!
 
FastEddieB said:
Today marks one year of ownership of our 2022 Model 3 LR. 26,600 miles to date.

It’s been a wonderful car, quite sporty in its handling, but a pleasure on long drives. And we’ve done lots of long drives: at least 4 to Florida, 2 to Indiana, 1 to DC and one longer one all the way to Ottawa. We charge exclusively at home unless on a trip, as reflected here:

52670184806_88bc5d98cf.jpg


Note: “Work” here is our N GA home. “Other” is friend’s homes or in just one case a Destination charger.

The only mechanical issue has been the rear defroster going inop. It was fixed under warranty, but it was noticed after our hit & run repair, so it may have been related.

Have rotated the tires twice. They appear to be good for at least 10,000 more miles.

So far, we have still never had to wait in line for a Supercharger. Have never come close to running out of juice on trips, usually trying to hit the next Supercharger with at least 15% remaining, and charging until we show at least that much remaining at the next Supercharger. That usually takes between 15 and 25 minutes, which for us is not a burden.

At home in TN we charge from a 240V 30A receptacle yielding about 24 miles of range per hour. We charge overnight to 80% for local driving, yielding about 265 miles of range, plenty for any conceivable local driving. Typically takes less than 4 hours to “top off” after a day’s running around.

I know it’s not uncommon to hear reports of new Teslas having quality control issues. Ours was delivered in perfect shape, and to date no rattles or clunks or other problems.

Another very nice feature is the Over-the-Air updates, gradually improving the car’s functionality over time.

In short, it’s a great car and we’d definitely consider another Tesla in the future. Maybe even the CyberTruck we have a deposit on!
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Man you do a lot of driving. That’s some serious savings over gas.
 
Here is a years worth on my 2019 M3 Long Range Stealth dual motor AWD

(stealth is the trim option that was offered for a short time in 2019. It was the high end model, but without the overpriced plastic chromey bits. Looks like a regular M3).

My driving has been mostly local with one long trip in October/November DFW to Charlotte and back.

Charging at home with Tesla’s 48A wall charger.

CCE9D916-2F0A-4C57-82FA-E3A378F6E0BD.png
 
FastEddieB said:
Today marks one year of ownership of our 2022 Model 3 LR. 26,600 miles to date.
...
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3 years on my 2020 hybrid, and just a over 27,000 miles on the car. It gets better than 42 mpg overall.
 
Only 36000 miles for a set of tires? yikes.
 
EdFred said:
Only 36000 miles for a set of tires? yikes.
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That’s actually darn good. Teslas go through tires like crazy, especially performance Model Ss like mine. I’ll be lucky to get 20K on these tires. Heavy car (4,600 lbs), RWD with a negative camber (inside wear), 21 inch low profiles and people stomping on the accelerator because it’s fun…recipe for early excessive wear.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Pretty common for the tires most manufacturers put on new cars. You can get more out of a nicer set once the first set wears out.
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Velocity173 said:
That’s actually darn good. Teslas go through tires like crazy, especially performance Model Ss like mine. I’ll be lucky to get 20K on these tires. Heavy car (4,600 lbs), RWD with a negative camber (inside wear), 21 inch low profiles and people stomping on the accelerator because it’s fun…recipe for early excessive wear.
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Cars or vehicles?

I'm at 50k on the truck and still going strong with the tread. Yes, tires from the factory.
 
EdFred said:
Cars or vehicles?
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EVs go through tires faster than similarly-sized ICE vehicles. Weight and the instant torque are the main culprits. EV tires are also optimized for noise and efficiency, over treadwear, so that contributes as well.

Hertz commented on this in their 3Q22 earning call. Even including the increased cost of tires, their Tesla fleet was averaging 40% to 50% lower maintenance costs than their equivalent ICE fleets.
 
EdFred said:
Cars or vehicles?

I'm at 50k on the truck and still going strong with the tread. Yes, tires from the factory.
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I was referring to cars. However, I think the GoodYears on my '08 F-150 may have only gone 45K before I shelled out for better tires. That was with fairly light duty and not driving aggressively. My Nitto TerraGrapplers that I put on after those went close to 60K miles. 8Ply tires help with that a bit.
 
We recently did a trip in our Model 3LR from our TN home, down the FL east coast as far as Key West, back to Pompano, then across the state and up the west coast. Then Tallahassee then home.

I don't always log or analyze trips like this, but did for a friend who asked.

52764789013_71d6f2286d_z.jpg


I guessed at the $3.19/gal figure, though it seemed to be about average for this trip. I compared the cost with the two cars we also travel or traveled with. Looks like the cost of the trip in gas for our Clarity would have been very close to the same as the Tesla mostly Supercharging. So, for any car doing better than 42 mpg, or if gas prices fall a bit more while electric rates remain the same, one might be slightly ahead with a gas car.
 
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Hey, I’m not ripping on the Tesla, but from what I see, buying one to save $$ isn’t going to work.

I ran numbers years ago, $16k vehicle, 35ish mpg compared to $28k Prius, gas $4 a gallon.

Not taking away some of the ‘coolness’ factor.

Then even saving the planet becomes debatable. That all said, buy what one wants.
 
It’s hard to justify a Tesla from a purely economical standpoint.

But remember, the above is a trip using almost exclusively Superchargers. Charging at home is roughly 1/3 that cost. So it definitely saves money there, but probably not enough to ever justify the price difference over an economy car.

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FastEddieB said:
but probably not enough to ever justify the price difference over an economy car.
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Are many prospective Tesla buyers deciding between a Tesla and an economy car? I wouldn't think so. I would expect them to be comparing to a higher end luxury or sports car.
 
Larry in TN said:
Are many prospective Tesla buyers deciding between a Tesla and an economy car? I wouldn't think so. I would expect them to be comparing to a higher end luxury or sports car.
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I know someone who has a model 3 that definitely wouldn't have been going for a higher end luxury car. Can't speak for him, but I would guess it was deciding between a model 3 and a camry/accord/etc. He got the model 3 because he's a DINK, could afford it and wanted the tech.
 
sourdough44 said:
Hey, I’m not ripping on the Tesla, but from what I see, buying one to save $$ isn’t going to work.

I ran numbers years ago, $16k vehicle, 35ish mpg compared to $28k Prius, gas $4 a gallon.

Not taking away some of the ‘coolness’ factor.

Then even saving the planet becomes debatable. That all said, buy what one wants.
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Better to compare "like" vehicles. Such as an Accord and the Model 3.
Or Mach-E and Subaru Outback.

Second, to pay for itself, you need to drive a lot and charge at home. The numbers can show significant savings, or you can spend a lot of money for no return.

Tim
 
A friend was big into the Toyota Rav-4 idea. One can charge at home, but it has a gas engine, so can drive 300 0 miles with regular auto fuel.
 
EdFred said:
Cars or vehicles?

I'm at 50k on the truck and still going strong with the tread. Yes, tires from the factory.
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+1. I ran my OEM Goodyear Wrangler tires on my 2017 F150 to over 80,000 miles. Currently at about 93,000 miles and still rocking the original brake pads.
 
This is what -2.7 degrees of camber does to a Model S tire.

E6D6FE9A-D595-44B2-A1D2-5BA033750EDD.jpeg
 
EdFred said:
Only 36000 miles for a set of tires? yikes.
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My wife used to get around 20k miles to a set of Continentals on her BMW.
Of course though, the only time her car wasn't in Sport mode was when she was backing up.
 
Guess the refueling opportunity cost is higher than often presented here. Brings a new meaning to range anxiety.
 
I saw a Polestar for the first time yesterday. I'm seeing more and more Model Y's around here too.
 
Someone said CR's ratings had Tesla's self/assisted driving tech falling behind that of the major players.
 
Sundancer said:
Someone said CR's ratings had Tesla's self/assisted driving tech falling behind that of the major players.
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You have to look at what they are grading. Here's their report from January.

https://www.consumerreports.org/car...riving-assistance-systems-review-a2103632203/

They are evaluating active driving assistance systems (ADA), many of which are geofenced to only work on approved roadways for which the car has high-res mapping details.

ADAs are used to assist the driver on controlled access highways. This is the functionality of the included autopilot function with every Tesla expect the very early production cars. As they state, the included autopilot functions have not changed significantly over the past couple of years.

What has changed is their full self driving beta which is trying to reach the point where it can drive autonomously through city streets without geofencing. That's very different from an ADA system and wasn't evaluated by C/R.

To see what the current FSD Beta software can do, check out the videos on the @Dirty Tesla and @Cybrlft YouTube channels.

https://www.youtube.com/@dirtytesla
https://www.youtube.com/@CYBRLFT
 
Larry in TN said:
As they state, the included autopilot functions have not changed significantly over the past couple of years.
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Maybe changed very little*, but improved quite a bit - at least in the 15 months we’ve owned ours. Using Autopilot on backroads was a bit unnerving when we first got ours - all sorts of phantom slowing as it misinterpreted oncoming traffic. Basically unusable. That has been markedly reduced, to the point that in the FL trip we just returned from, there was not a single case of phantom slowing/braking on all sorts of roads.

*One minor recent improvement was self-canceling turn signals after a lane change - one less thing to remember/hassle with. Another was an audio alert when a red light you’re stopped at turns to green. Usually. Like I said, little things, but no car I’ve owned before got any increase in functionality in the time I owned it.
 
Larry in TN said:
You have to look at what they are grading. Here's their report from January.

https://www.consumerreports.org/car...riving-assistance-systems-review-a2103632203/

They are evaluating active driving assistance systems (ADA), many of which are geofenced to only work on approved roadways for which the car has high-res mapping details.

ADAs are used to assist the driver on controlled access highways. This is the functionality of the included autopilot function with every Tesla expect the very early production cars. As they state, the included autopilot functions have not changed significantly over the past couple of years.
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Oh yeah, ADA was what I was referring to and is amazing tech. . .I think (and my grandkids) may not have enough lifespan remaining before Level 5, fully autonomous vehicles are ubiquitous. Maybe it'll happen on limited access highways first with some infrastructure changes/support, some tech to assist the car from embedded or roadside sensors. I dunno - could happen faster, assuming the NextGen teams aren't implementing it : )
 
SoonerAviator said:
Nothing like combining the iSmug crowd with the Teslarati. It's like they're trying to create some sort of SuperDouche class of citizens! (I kid, I kid . . . Mostly)
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Hey, don't knock it. I can now have my hands completely full and just say "Hey Siri, open my trunk!" I had no idea when I was watching Knight Rider on TV as a kid that I would someday get to live that.

Also, I realized one night that I'd left my phone - Which is also my car key - In the car, and the car was thus unattended and unlocked AND had my phone in it. I was able to use my watch to lock the car remotely. We live in the future!

FWIW, I'm about a week shy of 20 months of ownership, and I have 39,136 miles on my car now. Here's my stats for the last year:

IMG_3990.PNG

Here's my temperature efficiency. You can see that it's pretty flat from about 60-85 degrees. You can also tell I live in a place where it's frequently colder than that.
chart_main-2.png

Here's my speed efficiency. Unfortunately, I spend a fair amount of time above the speeds they'll list - I generally have autopilot set at 84 mph for the portion of my commute where the speed limit is 70. The peak this time is at 40-45 mph, but it's reasonably close all the way from 25-70:
chart_main-3.png

Finally, since this is a FAQ, here's my battery degradation. FWIW, older Teslas tend to degrade to about 90% over the course of the first 50-100,000 miles and remain there. I'm just short of 40,000 but the curve is starting to flatten - My first 10,000 took about 2.5%, the second and third 10,000 took about 1% each, and the last took about 0.7%. In reality, I wouldn't even know this if it weren't for this graph - This is rated range, and in the real world there's enough variability based on temperature, terrain, your particular driving style that day, etc that there hasn't been any noticeable drop. Part of that is that I don't even look at how much I used half the time, but the other part is that it literally varies every day. This battery is supposed to still be at 80% of its original capacity after 750,000 miles, so I'm really not worried about it at all:
battery_test.png

And even after 40,000 miles, driving this car puts a grin on my face, and I still love it. It's gotten even better over time with the various software updates, with Autopilot being markedly better and plenty of new features.
 
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