If you have both the cars available, which is your preferred option? I have Y but not sure if we would like a second Y but at the same time Y seems more comfortable compared to 3. What do you think?
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Who has or is planning to get an electric car / EV Talk
- Thread starter PracticalMac
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Test driving a BMW i3 on Saturday. Looking to find something that both Mrs AFB and I can drive. Petrol prices are getting crazy. Over £100 for a tank of premium unleaded these days.
My wife and I sold our 2 gassers and got an electric. $4.99/gal was enough for us. We went with a Tesla M3 (have yet to pick it up - next week!). Amazing what our used Civics went for - almost 80% of what we paid for new (2018s). Looking forward to never having to pay for gas again.
The price we can get for our second hand cars is certainly appealing.
But of course with the shortage of stock, bargains are few and far between. Especially if you have a long list of options you want!
My first car experience buying at a dealer in 2016 was a 9 hour session of pain and suffering.
The Tesla process? 20 mins online (mostly spent trying to pick which one we wanted) and bam, next day got financing and everything figured out, and today - we got insurance, paid the down payment, and have a pickup next week
. Absolutely amazing. All the how to videos are amazing. We're looking forward to it. Had 3 people reach out to me asking us if we needed help or had any questions (We got a used Tesla via Tesla.com).Congrats.
So you sold both Civics in place of purchasing one Model 3? Which Model? (RWD, Dual-Motor, ect)
Fuel prices seems to be unstable everywhere, and then add inflation in other markets, this is just another push for consumers to consider EV’s if their situation calls for it.
Yeppers - Used - 33k miles - LR AWD M3. Was a few more $k expensive than our 2 civics put together. But yeah, we're done with gas. My wife drives to college several times a week and they're offering free charging so, that's also a factor.
I'll skip a Tesla thanks. Trust me I won't be there that long. I've done my research so no what price is competitive and what I want. But this weekend is just the first drive. Not buying this weekend (famous last words!).My first car experience buying at a dealer in 2016 was a 9 hour session of pain and suffering.
The Tesla process? 20 mins online (mostly spent trying to pick which one we wanted) and bam, next day got financing and everything figured out, and today - we got insurance, paid the down payment, and have a pickup next week
Yeah, but then you have to get service and then the whole fiasco takes months. Only 2 Tesla body shops in my area so I won't be able to get a fender bender fixed on my Model Y until July.My first car experience buying at a dealer in 2016 was a 9 hour session of pain and suffering.
The Tesla process? 20 mins online (mostly spent trying to pick which one we wanted) and bam, next day got financing and everything figured out, and today - we got insurance, paid the down payment, and have a pickup next week
As day to day cars, Teslas tend to be great, but damn the headaches are not worth the $60k price tag.
Looking forward to your review.
Edit: did you buy it used from Tesla or other outlet? Did you trade to that same outlet?
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Thanks. What about visibility? Everyone around you seems to have a massive SUV or a pickup.
Have my test this afternoon. As it’s a light vehicle I’ll be interested to see how it is on the motorway in the wind left over from yesterdays storm.
That is a very good question! Currently own a VW Golf and a Kia Picanto (Mrs AFB). But she does about 8 miles a week on a trip to the supermarket.
If we can drop to one car, I’m hoping we can save money. But it’s very hard to know what the right thing to do is. Petrol prices are getting worse around here.
Could buy new (depreciation!), could buy nearly new, could just stick with what I’ve got.
Sold our civics to CarMax. Bought direct from Tesla.com (existing inventory).
Just picked it up from the Tesla place in Marina Del Rey, CA today at 1pm - they called us up earlier today and asked us if we wanted to pick it up a day early (we were just a few miles away) so we said yes. Walked in, signed 3 pieces of paperwork, and drove off in our used Tesla. Very happy with the experience. Car is excellent.
Takes a bit of getting used to going from a 2018 Civic EX to a Model 3. Taking foot off the gas is like pressing on the brakes - so it took awhile to learn how to coast by backing off on the accelerator. I am having a heck of a time getting used to the turn signal.
With a 3.7 0-60, this is quite a bit faster than our Civics. Scary fast.
We are charging for free (just 120v (5 miles/hr)) at the university right now.
(They have level 2 but at other side of campus).Setting up the keys and access was fairly easy and intuitive.
Biggest thing I'm looking forward to is - all the braking I used to have to do (I used to downshift a lot because my first car was a stick shift) - is now returned in energy. Used to upset me to death when I had to brake - now? I think how it's putting energy back in the battery. Love it.
Here where we live, we're pretty happy to think that we'll never touch a drop of gasoline again ($4.99/gal).
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18 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD:
At University level 1 - it was doing 12A - 120V (5mi/hr) with the Tesla cable.
At Home we were seeing 12A - 107V (4mi/hr) with the Tesla cable.
I checked the circuit breaker box and the garage is 20A so we ordered: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HHBDQ88/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 as a quick, hey maybe this might get us 7 mi/hr (had it delivered yesterday).
With the Lectron cable we're seeing 16A - 107v (6mi/hr) from the 20A wall plug. Electrician comes Thursday to quote a EV charging port install.
Drive to/from the university is 52 miles. We started with 202 miles and parked with 142 miles. Did 3 launches and floored it on the freeway once (kept it under 80). Interesting.
With our Civics we could get 46-52mpg combined to/from the university pretty consistently.
At University level 1 - it was doing 12A - 120V (5mi/hr) with the Tesla cable.
At Home we were seeing 12A - 107V (4mi/hr) with the Tesla cable.
I checked the circuit breaker box and the garage is 20A so we ordered: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HHBDQ88/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 as a quick, hey maybe this might get us 7 mi/hr (had it delivered yesterday).
With the Lectron cable we're seeing 16A - 107v (6mi/hr) from the 20A wall plug. Electrician comes Thursday to quote a EV charging port install.
Drive to/from the university is 52 miles. We started with 202 miles and parked with 142 miles. Did 3 launches and floored it on the freeway once (kept it under 80). Interesting.
With our Civics we could get 46-52mpg combined to/from the university pretty consistently.
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Pros: Driving is extremely easy. Full driving mode is amazing - very accurate. It's amazing how relaxing it is - didn't realize I put so much effort / energy into driving. Acceleration is wicked and dangerous. We'll be leaving it on chill most of the time.
Cons: Doors creak a little when opening - especially driver's side. Pretty audible rattles when driving side streets near house (35mph). Road noise is much worse than the Civics. Max charge shows 280 miles (37k on Odo when we bought it) - was sold as 311.
Cons: Doors creak a little when opening - especially driver's side. Pretty audible rattles when driving side streets near house (35mph). Road noise is much worse than the Civics. Max charge shows 280 miles (37k on Odo when we bought it) - was sold as 311.
I used ‘Turo’ back in August, [which is a rental car company], the difference is, you actually rent through an app through a private owner v.s. an entity like Enterprise Cars.
You can rent like any car you want and it’s a great way to test drive cars if specific dealerships doesn’t have a car that you want to test drive, and you can rent up to a day or even weeks through the App. You can even purchase insurance directly through the app or use your own if your coverage allows for it.
Anyways, so that led me to the Model 3. My only gripe that I had, was the rattles like you mentioned. It almost sounded like a bolt that’s not completely fastened where the washer is moving around under the bolt head (It was coming from the right side of the vehicle.) And the other rattle was where I heard what sounded like in the floorboard area, a bolt rolling on the body frame itself when the vehicle is in motion. It just seemed very amplified, given the obvious.
You know what I’ve really grown fond of? (And at first I was against it, but now I have actually grown to like it.) Is the aero caps. I remember when I first saw the M3, I told myself I would immediately take those off, but now that I see them more, they actually have a really cool design, obviously they serve a purpose for drag.
Other than that, it was a great experience. And coming from somebody that has 700+ horsepower cars in the garage, there’s no comparison in terms of the torque that’s like ‘warp speed.’
Keep us posted on your experiences and feel free to share a photo.
Enjoy!
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Looking seriously at replacing the 2012 Nissan LEAF, but keeping the Tesla Model 3. Have test driven several but current shortlist is the Hyundai Ioniq5 and Polestar2. Both pretty incredible, imo. Still haven’t found a replacement for my 1964 Ford Thunderbird though…just too much fun in the warm weather (convertible).
UPDATE: test drove the Polestar2 yesterday…now off the shortlist. The cabin is very confining for the driver and passenger, felt a bit like I was cocooned in it. As a bit of a claustrophobic, I found it confining. Also there was a bit of seat discomfort, the single motor option is really hard to get, and the published range is lower than I’d like. There is essentially no frunk room (roll of paper towels maybe?). On the plus side, it is very quiet in the cabin at highway speed and in highway traffic. The power lift gate works very well. All USB ports are USB-C. It includes wireless smartphone charging. The driver automation assists worked well and as advertised. And Polestar2 already is or will soon be going to over-the-air software updates. Fit and finish were excellent, driving and handling also excellent.
While at the Polestar dealership, we also looked at the Volvo Recharge, slightly more expensive than the Polestar2. Very nice vehicle, but did not test drive. Will do more research and possibly a test drive before adding to shortlist or not.
Ioniq5 still on the shortlist, still hard to get a timeframe for a Limited.
UPDATE: test drove the Polestar2 yesterday…now off the shortlist. The cabin is very confining for the driver and passenger, felt a bit like I was cocooned in it. As a bit of a claustrophobic, I found it confining. Also there was a bit of seat discomfort, the single motor option is really hard to get, and the published range is lower than I’d like. There is essentially no frunk room (roll of paper towels maybe?). On the plus side, it is very quiet in the cabin at highway speed and in highway traffic. The power lift gate works very well. All USB ports are USB-C. It includes wireless smartphone charging. The driver automation assists worked well and as advertised. And Polestar2 already is or will soon be going to over-the-air software updates. Fit and finish were excellent, driving and handling also excellent.
While at the Polestar dealership, we also looked at the Volvo Recharge, slightly more expensive than the Polestar2. Very nice vehicle, but did not test drive. Will do more research and possibly a test drive before adding to shortlist or not.
Ioniq5 still on the shortlist, still hard to get a timeframe for a Limited.
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The rattle sounds self explanatory but in regards to road noise.... do you feel the road noise is louder because the interior lacks sound deadening materials or because you don't have the typical white noise of an ICE drive train to deaden some of that sound?
Both but mostly lack of sound deadening material.
That's too bad, one of their biggest selling points could and should be the elimination of road noise and cabin serenity.
What are you getting quoted for install? A Nema 14-50 or a high powered wall connector from Tesla? There’s not much of a difference in charging between the 2 options.
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I went to Tesla.com and looked for local electricians and one of the first ones on the list was Trout Electric. I tried to do a remote quote but they said they had to do a physical install (free). https://troutelectricusa.com - They'll be here Thursday. I'm hoping they do a Tesla charger but whatever works.