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by lambda 4796 days ago
I too find maintenance inconvenient; but my used station wagon doesn't require much of that either. In the past three years, I've only ever had to have it inspected, tires replaced, and oil changes. Now, the Tesla doesn't have oil changes, so that one aspect is removed, but it does have annual maintenance. So, I'm looking at maybe two oil changes per year, vs. one annual servicing; a small improvement in maintenance hassle, but not amazing.

But anyhow, I'm not claiming that there are no convenience advantages of a Tesla; just that there are also a lot of things that are quite inconvenient, especially if you don't have a driveway or need to take long trips. Claiming that the Tesla is better in every regard but range is vast hyperbole. For some use cases, it may be more convenient; for mine, far less.

Beyond that, the price is a major disadvantage; at 4 times the price of a new economy car for the entry level model, and twice the price of lower-end luxury brands, it's well outside many people's price range; and you don't even save that much because you're not buying gasoline, as the combined cost of electricity plus replacement batteries winds up being pretty close to the cost of gas you would pay for the same number of miles (depending on exactly how long the batteries last, and assuming that the relative costs of gasoline vs. electricity don't diverge too much; of course you could say that gas prices are likely to go up faster than electricity, but they may go down too).

2 comments

The Model S may not be the best at everything, but it appears to be the best overall car you can buy right now. It just scored an almost unheard of 99/100 from Consumer Reports (I believe the Civic got in the high 70s to mid 80s this year)
Do you have the math worked out for the total cost of ownership or at least a citation?