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Originally Posted by rogerkriz1@gmail.com
I've been a strong advocate of the electric auto's for awhile but I'm been mostly curious about the Tesla and the advanced they have made. Still, I wonder about actual cost of ownership now that there are more and more on the road. In the early days of availability I think Tesla provided some rapid charging stations free of charge but I'm thinking that that was unsustainable. I've been wondering just how things are managed these days and how much it really costs to own and travel in one.
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Not so many responses that answer your question. Here's my experience which may help.
In 2014 I bought a Model S with a range of 265 miles for $90,000. I got a $7500 federal tax credit. I received free use of Tesla's supercharger network, which was not so big at the time. I made several trips in the 1000 mile range. The superchargers show up on the big center-screen map and the navigation routing will take you to the right one before you run out of charge. In general every 3 hours I would stop and charge for 30-45 minutes. The superchargers are located close to restaurants and shopping so there is somewhere to go while charging. I rarely had to wait for an open space. There are typically 6-8 chargers at each location. Superchargers are wired in pairs so charging is slower if you use the second charger of the pair. Charging starts at 300 miles per hour but dwindles to as low as 70 miles per hour when the battery is close to fully charged.
I installed a 240V outlet in my garage that charges at 29 miles per hour. Roughly 10 KW, so if power costs 10 cents a KW it cost about 4 cents a mile. I would charge overnight once a week or so to meet my needs.
I paid for Tesla's annual maintenance at about $300 per year, mainly because the technology was new. I'm sure Tesla spent a fair bit of time when I brought it in for the same reason but it's likely very little maintenance was actually needed.
In 2016 I traded the car in on a new model with Autopilot (really just lane keeping an traffic aware cruise control). I received $50,000 for my old car so the cost of owning a Tesla for all practical purposes is the depreciation. Everything else is chump change.
I paid $92,000 for the 2016Model S and received another $7500 tax credit. I also have free supercharging for the life or the car, even if I sell it. This is no longer offered, which is a good thing because it gives people incentive to charge at home where it's cheaper. There is a Supercharger by the Wawa on 441 and I rarely see it used.
The supercharger network has been built out significantly. You can go just about anywhere and find one within 100 miles. I make an annual trip to Wisconsin. It's 1200 miles and takes about 23 hours, which is about 5 hours more than it would in a gas car.
Other than tires I haven't spent anything on maintenance for the 2016. I will have to buy a 12V battery in the near future which will cost $300 installed. Tesla sends a Ranger to your house to replace it. I got a quote for the trade-in value at $41,000. Probably get a bit more with a private sale. However I plan on keeping it for a while.
There are a lot of places that offer free 240V charging while you shop, but that only gets you 30 miles an hour. You certainly don't want to rely on this type of charger for a trip. Only Teslas can use their supercharger network. There are high speed chargers that other manufacturers can use and Tesla can too with an account and the right adapter. It's just harder to find them. The lack of a simple high speed charging network is what is keeping other manufacturers from competing with Tesla.
We got rid of our Lexus RX350 3 years ago. The Tesla is the only car we have now. We also have an electric golf cart with a lithium battery that goes 65 miles on a charge.
Tesla's newest Model S is $80,000 and the range is over 100 miles more than my car. It has 8 camera's and when you set it to sentry mode it records everything happening around the vehicle, whether it be someone cutting you off or keying your car when it's parked. It's amazing how many people feel the need to key a Tesla. But it typically takes only a couple hours to identify the culprit when the video is uploaded to social media.
So depending on your needs, it can be very easy for a Tesla to be your only car. Obviously, it's not for everyone and if it's not for you, don't buy one. I'll never buy an F150 but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with them.