Tesla cars are showing up with more frequency in Madison, as people become more comfortable with the brand. Just today, I noticed 3 while running errands on the west side, and another 4 during my hour-long walk with the dogs. One was a Model Y and the rest were Model 3s.
April 2019
Since we’re coming up on the 2-year anniversary of buying our Model 3, I thought it would be a good time to assess our experience as we approach 50,000 miles. Going electric, I wasn’t quite sure about the maintenance costs and long term stability of the car but I am gaining confidence all the time.
In two years, this is the maintenance we had done:
Squeaky joints replaced (under warranty)
Door handle adjustment (under warranty)
Smelly AC addressed with a cleaner (Tesla had to do it) and new cabin filter replaced ($138)
New tires at 37,000 miles ($856)
That’s the list.
Total cost: $988.
Here’s the deal with the tires. Electric cars are heavy and are harder on tires. Plus, Teslas are very fast and fun to drive, which is also harder on tires. I have tried to be a more conservative driver and get the tires rotated regularly to see if I can get more wear on this set of tires. We’ll see.
In the 2 years of ownership, we’ve been to New York twice and generally use the Model 3 for everything. We’re heading West next month so we’ll see how that goes. We have 2 other cars but we rarely use them. If the M3 is here, it’s taken first. There is 0 chance we will ever buy a gas car again.
Home charging is a snap. We paid an electrician $500 to install a 240 amp plug in our garage, which gives us about 32 miles of range per hour. That mean’s we’re fully charged over night every time. When on the road, Tesla superchargers are all over the interstate, and take about 20 minutes to give us a full charge up to our 238 mile range. But in rural communities, charging is rather spotty.
If you haven’t guessed already, electricity is way cheaper than gas. The most I ever paid to “fill up” was $11 at a store near O’Hare and the least was $1.50 in a small town in Ohio.
We’re nearly 50,000 miles in on this car so I’d say this is a decent test. The car is reliable and there is almost no maintenance required. Elon Musk has said Tesla motors should last 500,000- 1,000,000 miles! But what if we only get 250,000 miles?! Interestingly, I saw our exact version of the M3 (similar miles, too) on sale at cars.com for $38,000. That’s what we paid 2 years ago after credits, etc.
Past the 50,000 mile mark we’ll likely see a diminution of battery range but so far it has been minimal. We go by the 80/20 rule which is supposed to be ideal for getting the most bang from the battery. We only charge over 80% if going on a trip. If you use the energy soon after the full charge it should be fine. But you would not want it fully charged sitting in the garage with nowhere to go.
For the future, I have my eye on the Model Y, as it has nearly twice the interior room of the M3, is all wheel drive and has a much longer battery range. At $50,000 it’s out of our price range but hopefully as e-cars go mainstream, and they will, the costs will come down. Plus, we should have another 200,000 miles to put on this one!
What will also help for the e-car to go mainstream is having a place to test drive one before buying. I just learned a Tesla service center will open in Madison on the west side. If it’s like the one in Milwaukee, they’ll offer test drives there, too. That’s key because once you get in one you soon realize how distinct and superior they are.
No regrets at the 2-year mark.