It cost $2,216 in fuel to go 30,000 miles
Today, I share with you the financials of a Tesla Model 3.
Hello Professionally Curious One!
Welcome to my Friday Flights, a collection of seemingly random things.
Cheers,
Allen
Past Publications
What I’m Up To
TL;DR: Not sleeping as well as I like to…
The Things
Every day I get closer to finishing the tax return.
Shoutout to the catches up I had with Adam, LJW, and John! <3
I got jury summons and I have to call at 5pm today to figure out if I’m going in.
Last of Us is so good on HBOMAX.
I pulled off a feat with my SO to eat a Haidilao Hot Pot…for $25 total.
If you love Little Sister or bougie Vietnamese food, you will love LSXO in Huntington Beach. It’s literally inside another restaurant, tucked away.
Right Rice is my healthy jam for the quarter, joining my love for Vite Ramen.
I just established a Solo401k thanks to Rachel N. Here’s my LinkedIn Post explaining why. If you want one, here’s my referral link.
I found my $0.88 settlement check from Fry’s Electronics b/c of their labor violations back in…(checks note) 2012.
Do you want to stop snacking? Get a Wasabi Pea snack. Do you hate yourself? Get a Wasabi Almond.
What I Reflected On
TL;DR: Cost of Tesla Ownership
Would you like to know how much a Tesla Model 3 with AWD & Full Service Driving Cost?
No?
Too bad, I broke that down for you based on my own costs.
But first:
Yes I have a Tesla, and yes I love it.
I did a Turo rental of one in 2019, and then 4 months later sold my Prius for a great price and got one.
It was a great purchase for a life where I expected to go from my then expected commutes from Santa Monica to Woodland Hills (30 minutes one way) / Glendora (60 minutes one way) / Brea (90 minutes one way) with major plans to use my then employer’s mileage reimbursements.
Instead I got a joy riding car for recreational purposes during the pandemic. Hah.
Now let’s get to the nerdy financials.
PURCHASE DETAILS
Car Model
Tesla Model 3 - Blue
Autopilot + Full Self Driving (additional $6k at the date of purchase)
Purchase Date: December 2019
Estimated Distance: 325 miles
Cost:
Total Cost including tax: $64,495
Payment Structure: Auto Loan
5k down payment
+ remaining $59,495
as a loan over 60 months
Annual APY: 2.490%
= $991 monthly.
Total Expected Cost w/ Interest over 5 years: $68,337
The auto loan is financed by Logix Banking; their UI sucks however I can refer you can get up to 1% of interest off on your loans.
Clean Vehicle Rebates
Federal Rebate: $1,875
California Rebate: $4,000
Total Rebates: $5,875 // $97.91 savings per month
Rebates change frequently enough.
Effective Price: $62,462
ADDITIONAL MONTHLY COSTS
Tesla Car Insurance - $164 per month average. This is 50% cheaper all other insurance vendors (you can use Jerry to find all kinds of car insurance). It includes cyber protection apparently.
Tesla Premium Connectivity (Internet for car) - $9.99 per month. This one is free the first year.
TOTAL MONTHLY COST BEFORE ENERGY
Monthly Car Payment: $991
Monthly Auto Insurance: $164
Monthly Premium Connectivity: $9.99
Monthly Fixed Cost Payment: $1164.99
Charging & Energy Consumption
I have driven 29,500 miles as of February 9, 2023. That makes it a little over 3 years, or 38 months, of driving.
Miles Driven: 29,502 /// 776 miles per month
Total Energy Cost: $2,213 /// $58 per month
Total kW: 8414.4571 /// 221 kW per month
Breaking that down:
Cost per Mile: $0.08
Miles per kW: 3.5 miles per kW
Perspective: For me to go from my home in Orange County to Los Angeles County, specifically EY Downtown Los Angeles, is:
40 mile trip one way, or 80 miles total.
This would cost me only $6 in energy.
The trip would consume 30% (23 kW) of my car’s charge for the day, roundtrip.
There is free Level 2 charging at the office so that saves 50% cost immediately
Perspective from a Honda Accord Driver:
25 MPG -
At $3 per gallon, would mean this round trip costs $9.6
At $4 per gallon, would mean this round trip costs $12.8
At $6 per gallon, would mean this round trip costs $19.2
Perspective from a Prius:
50 MPG -
At $3 per gallon, would mean this round trip costs $4.8
At $4 per gallon, would mean this round trip costs $6.4
At $6 per gallon, would mean this round trip costs $9.6
Total Monthly Cost : $1221.99
Note: Does not include my amortized rebate amounts or other incentives.
Charging & Energy History
Enjoy nerds. <3
How do I have all this data?
The beauty about all EV charging is that they are all software driven and they are all tracking you to tell you how much you saved. In my phone, Tesla provides my last 1 year’s worth, with the ability to download charging history from inception to date.
I corroborate their numbers with my own smartplug that’s used exclusively to monitor wattage consumed to charge my car. I
Explaining Tesla & Electric Vehicle Charging:
There are 3 levels of charging. They are easily categorized between L1 to L3, and the determinant of it is kW per Hour delivered.
L3 - supercharging - car charges from nothing to 90% in ~30 minutes.
Typically 250-500.L2 - Standard EV Charging - car charges from nothing to 90% in ~8 hours.
L1 - House Charging - car charges from nothing to 90% in ~3 days
When charging an EV, everything is measure in battery - kW.
L3 - This is just insane levels of charging.
L2 - Charges up to 6.5 kW per hour. If you go to Whole Foods, or see any EV charging stations, they are usually at this rate. However, often times it’s one power node split between two car ports, so if two cars are charging you get 3.25 kW per hour.
L1 - Charges 1 kW per hour. That’s the regular outlet in your house. This can be increased with the help of an electricity, or the convenient availability of a 240v outlet (the one for your refrigerator or laundry utilities).
Now you can do the thing where you try to track how miles you’ve charged, or how many miles you get, but honestly, that’s exhausting.
Instead, I have adopted thinking in % of my battery.
Example:
This driven will take 6% of my battery.
I can get 18% of battery here.
I will be able to get 50% in 10 minutes at that charger.
Why fret about miles anyway; you don’t really fret about how many hours of battery life your phone has do you?
Charging Preference
A Tesla Model 3 has 75 kW (all new ones after 2021 have 82 kW).
My 75 kW = 325 miles
New 82 kWh = ~358 miles
Since it’s a lithium battery, my goal is to prolong the health of the battery by not letting it deplete (0%) or overcharging it (100%). Ideally, keep the battery healthy between 20% and 90%.
I charged my car to 90%. This was an effective range of 292 miles
In the first two years of ownership - 2019 to 2021 - I only had access to Superchargers because the residence I was living at didn’t have a plug in the garage.
This worked out favorably because it was the pandemic, and I needed and excuse to go outside intentionally, even if it was just to charge my car.
I was spending 99% of my days in a cramped place. I have since moved and now have a dedicated power outlet to charge my car.
I now charge my car only to 80%, daily.
At any time I have 260 miles to go anywhere. Perspective, I can do a 3 hour, or 170 mile drive, from Irvine to San Diego and back on a single charge.
My car charges every night, and since I have a T-o-u plan, it charges when energy is cheapest.
Tips for Charging at Home:
A Smartplug that can take up to 1500w of powerdraw is what you need
A spare extension cable for charging will do you wonders.
T-o-u is your friend and so is Solar. If you are in LA, be careful of LADWP’s energy pricing - they get you by tiers, not by consumption.
Tips for Charging when Out and About:
Plugshare is the “Waze” of finding and rating charging stations.
ChargePoint is the most common in Socal and have variable, often super low cost, rates - though there is penalty for being in a spot for too long.
ClipperCreek = FREE CHARGING (usually)
Volta is the one you find at Wholefoods and shopping centers. Always solid, and its free, and has the best parking often beating out the handicap parking. LOL.
Here are the EV Charging Station companies I hate:
BLINK - I hate them the 2nd most
Any app that requires me to deposit money first (load $10) before using the charging station - absolutely not.
Things I love about driving a Tesla Model 3:
I’m not a car guy, I’m a computer building guy. This car is great for me.
It feels like I’m driving a spaceship.
It’s silent. Great to park on a hill & have a music concert - you won’t hear the car engine or anything else.
I autopilot 95% of the time. However, I do have my fun 5% of the time.
The car ages like wine with software updates.
It has dashcams on every part of the car including interior.
There’s no maintenances besides cleaning, changing air filter, wipers, and tires. I have only changed the air filter and used a water-less wash spray from time to time.
You can change the driving style to be like a Corolla, or like an Audi.
"Tesla Auto Recalls” are 99% software updates, but for some reason they are called recalls.
That time I did have to do a checkup, a Tesla Technician showed up and did it in 10 minutes, and that was free
It has gone to Napa Valley, San Francisco (repeatedly), Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Las Vegas.
Yes I’ve driven it on snow. AINT NO DIFFERENCE IN AN EV!
I love driving a tesla so much I rented one on vacation when I was in Hawaii.
The things I do not like about a Tesla Model 3:
Certain software updates can sometimes be dumb
People have a lot of misconceptions about the car’s autopilot and judge the car as extremely dangerous. I don’t bother.
Air filters are actually a pain in the ass to change, but it’s do able.
Can I have access to your cost tracker?
Want a Tesla? Here’s my referral link
I will be genuinely surprised if anyone uses that.
What’s on my mind
TL;DR: Curated Lists
I’m trying out curated lists on LinkedIn for next week or so.
Here are two I’ve published so far:
Are there any lists you think I should make?
…
Well you made it this far so here’s my most embarrassing photo with my Tesla
<3
You forgot to include cost of maintenance in an accord vs a tesla..
Also forgot to mention the founder is the biggest man baby..