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So ignore performance, leather, safety, nav, 15" screen, and related improvements? Doesn't seem fair, the model 3 is a crazy more capable car, but ok. Maybe at least the hybrid ($28,430)? Or at least add some of the safety stuff like blind spot monitoring and cross-traffic alert? Keyless? Upgraded backup camera? v6 to get the 0-60 close to the Tesla? Also ignoring the federal, state, PG&E, and similar incentives? Even ignoring all the above I think the Tesla is still cheaper to own. AAA claims that the average car costs $0.592 per mile. For above mentioned 200,000 miles that's $118k. Not sure there's a more "average" car than a camry. No oil changes, brake changes, gas, engine mounts, timing chain, belts, etc is going to significantly decrease that number for the Tesla. Sure electricity isn't free, but it is way cheaper than gas. There's a target I visit often in my town that allows 2 hours of free charging per visit, and where I work charging cost $10 per month. I could easily spend less than $200 per year for the Telsa electricity. Since June 2019 I've spent a total of $30.00 (5 visits) at superchargers despite numerous road trips to Stanford, Reno, SF, Napa, Tahoe, Downieville, etc. Additionally it's looking like Tesla's last a fair bit longer than the equivalent ICE car. So at 200k miles you could just keep the model 3, or sell it for a non-trivial amount of money. Already hearing reports of Model S's making it to 1M km and the taxi service is switching to model 3's. Should have an ideal how well the model 3 does near 1M km soon. Speaking of resale value: https://cleantechnica.com/2020/02/18/tesla-model-3-has-least... So the $40k model 3 lost 5.5% after 1 year ($2,200). Presumably the camry is worse than the honda fit (#5 on the list). So it lost at least $3,000 in value in the first year. Amusingly the worst depreciation numbers are many of the Tesla competition (BMW, Audi, Jaguar, and Volvo). So yes, I think keeping a Tesla for 200k miles will be cheaper than a Camry. More fun to drive, safer, and cheaper. Doubly so if you count wasting an hour or two on weekend for an oil change.... 40 times. Having had ICE cars over 10 years old and over 100k miles I can say first hand that the maintenance costs can add up quickly. |
I’m not. Those are all reasons the Model 3 is still an entry-level luxury car, as is the price.