Featured Can't Charge an EV at Home, at Work, or for Free? Don't Buy One

I must say that as a renter, charging is a bit of a pain. I was able to do it with the Leaf. But one of the benefits and downfalls of a 24kWh battery is that it can be charged up to 100% in one day if you can keep it parked by a normal outlet most of the day. The downside is that it doesn't get you that far down the road.

And yes, there is a QC station being installed in town. But it's at a liquor store. While I get it, putting charging station next to atractions is to make it easier to do two things at once, I'm poor. I don't buy liquor, I don't go to restaurants, I don't go shopping other than for basic food supplies for the week. I'd much rather perfer they'd put these charging stations in areas like gasoline stations, that are designed for the general public that only needs the "fuel" and is not necessarily interested in all the goodies being sold along side the charging station.

 

This was the link reference article of the Model S owner: Fed-Up Model S Plaid Owner Explains Why He Won't Buy Another Tesla Again - autoevolution

The man took delivery of his Model S Plaid in late 2021,
. . .
He discovered that the camber of the 21-inch wheels leads to accelerated wear whether he drives spiritedly or not. After just 25,000 miles, the man had to go through five sets of tires. But the real issue is that the inner side of the tire is the one that gets chewed up fast.
. . .
charging is cheaper than gas. That's especially true today when fuel is over $6 per gallon in some parts of the US. But no one should expect reasonable costs when the car has an output of over 1,000 hp.
. . .
He paid a bit over $139,000, and now his vehicle is worth around $65,000 on the secondary market.
. . .
GAP insurance. That product protects buyers who finance their cars from rapid depreciation.
. . .​

Curious there was little in this article about charging cost. So I went back to the original article and noticed this box in the photo:

Note the $3,172 "Gas Equivalent" from the Tesla.

Within the article there was one snapshot of the Model S:
​

"According to the brand's calculations, he could have pocketed $769 if he drove a gas-powered sedan." is refuted by the two images in the same article.

Bob Wilson

 

Isn’t there something people do that results in rapid inner tire wear, donuts or something? So near donuts by peeling out and turning would have the inner wear effect. I bet it’s the show off now, pay later syndrome.

 

"Performance" tires often have a short life. For example, my original Model 3 tires barely lasted 30,000 miles. I subsequently replaced them with 60,000 mi Bridgestones and they are meeting that goal. I also put lighter weight rims so together saving about 15-20 lbs per wheel.

Bob Wilson

 

Sounds like Tesla set the Plaid S toe in at a point for increased control and stability. Considering the amount of power available, it is probably a good default to use. Adjust the alignment for what is legal performance on the street, and the tire wear should improve, as well as the range.

 

I think the point is, don't buy things based solely off of what the manufacturer or dealer or store or merchant tells you. Anyone and everyone is going to tell you that their product is the absolute best and don't buy anything else.

I do find Tesla's pricing a bit of a pain as you have to move a few sliders and options here and there to get the real price. Posting a price that subtracts a possible savings from fuel from the actual price is misleading. A "you could potentially save between this and this" without touching the price would have been much better. In my case I mostly didn't pay for any of my charging.

At work they don't care if I plug my EV in and charge. Me being in charge of turning off all the lights and such at night saves them way more electricity than what my EV was taking. And charging at home was 10 cents per kWh (now a whopping 11 cents).

I don't see how someone paying for an new idea sports car expects to save money. I love EV's but I also love Wankel engines. I know the rabbit hole I'd have to go down if I got a Mazda RX-8 (or if they every come out with an RX-9). There's a price to be paid for having an engine that revs up past 10,000RPM. The same with having an EV with over 1,000hp.

 

FUD

 

Certainly large ticket items need to be researched. Munro Associates sold me on these cars which have met my expectations:

• 2014 BMW i3-REx - bought in 2016
• 2019 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus - bought new in 2019
• 2017 BMW i3-REx - bought in 2023

Munro has a wide field of view including products I have no interest. I have to meet my requirements first. But when they do a teardown, engineering analysis, I am confident the facts and data are accurate.

Bob Wilson

 

I like Munro's observations.

I noticed that used Tesla Long Range Model 3's are down to $26,000. I'm guessing that one of those might be my next car. What I've seen from Munro it seems he likes Teslas.

 

You are certainly right about what you're saying and it's good advice for us. It's funny when we see other people making a bad decision. We can just chuckle and think well, I'm glad we're in a free country. They are free to make as many bad decisions as they like each of us gets that freedom. I got a friend driving a diesel pickup truck as a daily driver. Certainly not a good choice financially. Oh well. He's enjoying it and that's his decision... fun that he's paying for

 

at 40 cents per electron at home, i might be better off on public charging

 

here you go: 2022 Tesla Model 3 Long Range Sedan Available Near Smithtown, NY | 16102561

They also got Bolts at reasonable prices.

 

Me too. Just the same it's good we are in 'Merika where people have the freedom to spend how they wish.

 

Here's how the Brits are getting around it.

 

You may want to keep an eye on the BYD Seal Seagull.
It won’t be sold in the USA for at least a couple of years. However, it is currently being sold in China & Europe for under $12k (USD).

The need to add a couple airbags to bring it up to USA standards. I’m thinking it doesn’t need much more if it meets European standards.

 

The BYD Seal costs 42k € in germany - the one in the video is the Seagull which might be available as BYD Dolphin mini for around 20k€ but I did not see it anywhere yet. There are generally barely any cheap/small EVs in Europe and even most Chinese offers so far rather concentrate on higher price segments.

Cheapest I know is the Dacia Spring Electric Essential 45 for perhaps not more than 24k€... while not a Chinese car (Dacia is part of Renault) its still build in China by Renault + DongFeng
Renault Kwid - Wikipedia

 

Thanks for the correction! I edited my post with the corrected info.
I am looking forward to some tear-down reports on the BYD vehicles.
Apparently BYD is building a plant in Mexico. Which may mean they are positioning themselves to expand into the USA market.

 

TL;DW

• Use public chargers
• Rent a driveway
• Giant powerbank van service
• Throw a cable from your house

Duh

Stupid youtubers with 14 minute videos of blah blah blah to say obvious or very dumb things.