It’s been a bit over three years now. I got the car in early Sept 2021, and it’s now Oct 2024. We’ve (mostly me) have driven about 51,168 miles as of today.
Tl;Dr
It’s a car. I unplug it most days, get in, drive. Don’t really think about much else. I appreciate the Autopilot on highways and straight roads, and I like not carrying or bothering with a key. I live in chill mode, rarely using full acceleration.
For the most part, it’s just less maintenance than my other vehicles and it feels good to not cost so much to drive.
Impressions
Most days I unplug the car and then get in. I drive, just like any other car. I use one foot to drive, ignoring the brake most of the time. I get out of the car somewhere and walk away.
In very hot/cold temps, I sometimes (50% of the time?) will prehear or cool the car before I come out. That has worked well and it’s nice to have the car cooler or warmer when I get in.
I rarely look at charge or worry. Range anxiety has just disappeared.
When I get home, if it’s during the day, and well before 4p, I’ll plug in and start charging with solar power, but I really don’t worry. If it’s late, or I haven’t driven much, I might not plug in.
Often we know when we might have a big day. Mountain trip, volleyball tournament, etc. In those cases, I’ll up the charge to 90 or 95%. The most I might go is 97% to ensure I can regen brake as I drive. I also know where there are a few chargers, so I can always stop if I need to.
If I forget, I grab a cup of coffee and go charge for 15-20 minutes. That’s usually more than I need to get through the rest of the day.
We don’t plug in every day, and we seem to average less than 20 charging sessions a month. Winter is a bit more, but we drive more.
I never worry about maintanence, and just plan on changing summer->winter tires or vice versa as I do on the other car. We usually apply software updates when they come, and they haven’t been an inconvenience.
The Things I Like
There are two things that stand out in my mind when I think about this car after three years. First, no key. I love not needing to find a key or worry about it. I get in the car and go. When I stop, I get out and leave.
In other cars, the keys are in them at home, but I manage those keys when I go out. On trips, I always put keys in my laptop bag so I can find them when I return. For the trips I take with the Tesla, I don’t need to worry about keys. I just have my phone.
The other thing I appreciate is Autopilot. The last time I tried FSD, A week with FSD 2024.3.10, it was really good. I just don’t need it. Driving isn’t a hassle and I’m not in traffic enough to care. If I commutted every day, I might feel differently.
For me, Autopilot just reduces some of the stress of driving down the highway or on a straight road. It stays in the lane, it keeps the speed, it watches cars in front of me, it’s nice.
I do appreciate dog mode, when we take the dogs out. I think climate works well, and I like data, but those are minor things.
Battery degredation is low, about 90% of the original range.
The Things I Don’t Like
The big thing that I don’t like the most is the heating/AC system. The fans blow air at one speed and it can be hard to separate the driver side from the passenger one. My wife often wants things cooler, and lower fan speed. In the winter, I want the air on my feet and a higher speed.
My view is that the engineers and designers didn’t give enough thought to very different requirements for heat/AC between the left and right, and the rear. At times, the rear air doesn’t do a good job of cooling or heating. Heating is less an issue with seat heaters, but the hassles of trying to get everyone comfortable is annoying.
In my other cars, it can be easy to turn up the air, and the control some of the flow with vents.
Everything else seems fairly minor. There is a lot of road noise, which I think speaks to a lack of insulation and some design cost cutting, but it’s not a big deal. My other little complaints are just that, little.
The Costs
What has this car cost me? Here’s a breakdown:
- Fuel: $1603.35 in electricity (ish, my logger was down a bit). This is for 51k miles. I’ve also spent about $150 at Superchargers at my best guess. I stoppe tracking. Long term usage is about 250Wh/mi (lower in summer, higher in winter)
- Windshield fluid – 8 bottles at around US$4
- New Rims – 1058.96 (busted one in a pothole. A single one from Tesla was $400 so I just got a new set aftermarket)
- Winter Tires – $465.18 (replacement) + $2026 (second set) + $1600 (first set)
- Flipping tires – $540 (6 flips)
We’re still on the original all season tires for summer and my second set of winter tires. The crazy weather in CO has had me in winter tires 7-9 months last year, and I punctured a tire that wasn’t worth repairing because the tread on all the tires was low. I expect next spring (2025), I’ll need new summer tires. The winter tires were about $450 with the tires, mounting, protection plan, etc. I think the tires themselve retailed around $370.
Registration is still high as it’s an expensive car, and Colorado has a $25 EV tax for roadway stuff. I’m fine with that, though I think it’s low. If I were driving this much in a gas car, I’d be paying hundreds in taxes. My vote would be make this a $100/yr tax and see where we go.
Summary
Still we both think the car is still the best one we’ve owned. We enjoy it immensely.
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