if anyone still exists in this small part of the world, my 2016 hyundai veloster turbo had to get a head gasket repair at 84k miles and that was extremely unacceptable to me. it was definitely a fun car to drive but the technology was lacking. i will say that i went to that car from a 1997 toyota corolla so the technology jump was dramatic initially. but throughout this past few years, car tech has really been moving so… I got a 2024 tesla model y performance, white interior, ultra red paint. came out to be ~$44k after trade in and $7500 federal tax credit. the performance trim of the model y has a bit more power (0-60 in 3.5sec vs 4.8sec in the regular dual motor), 21” wheels, a slightly stiffer suspension, and rides 1” lower to the ground. Coming from a sporty ICE hatchback to this sporty ev, this suspension feels like a family sedan. my veloster turbo was a pretty harsh ride. but when people ask how the car is, i tell them that it’s like driving a smartphone. i’ve driven a chevy bolt as a loaner in the past and that car is just a car with an electric motor. the tesla technology is on another level. the software is quite robust is it has frequent updates that actually adds some quality of life and actual new features. for example, a new update is rolling out and it adds youtube music, auto lowering ac fan speed when a phone call comes in, etc. an update rolled out early june which was a ui overhaul and added modern graphics to take advantage of the newer ryzen chip. the model 3 and y originally had an intel atom processor that was pretty underpowered. one of the things that i was originally disappointed by and some other potential tesla buyers were also confused about was the non apple carplay/android auto support. but after being an owner, it makes sense. tesla’s navigation uses google maps data. if you have the premium connectivity subscription (internet through att), it gives live traffic data. but basically, tesla’s navigation also links with car data so it gives you a projection of how much battery you’ll use to get to your destination. if you don’t have enough juice to get there, it’ll auto route you to a super charger station on the way there. i also use apple music and the car has an apple music app (currently also has spotify and tidal apps). this fixes my want for carplay. for those curious about charging. i live in a house which is the ideal situation to own an ev. if you live in an apartment, you can make it work but there will be inconveniences. by default, with the mobile charger, you can choose to charge with the regular ac 110volt plug. that goes extremely slow at about 3 miles charged per hour. i use the nema 14-30 adapter to plug into my dryer outlet and it charges at about 18 miles per hour. i do a majority of my charging at home. my rate for electricity is about 12 cents per kwh. tesla provides you basic charts so you know how much energy you use and what you would’ve paid in gas that’s 31 days at about 1300 miles driven. i would normally drive about 1500 miles a month but was out of town for a week vacation. other than that, i really don’t expect much maintenance costs. wiper fluid, brake fluid, cabin filter, tires, alignment at some point. i can’t do tire rotations due to the performance trim having a staggered setup. that’s really it. the tesla app allows you to use your phone as a key. other than that, you get two key cards as a key. not practical at all in my opinion. i’m trying to minimize the size of my key chain. you can buy a physical key fob separately for $175. tesla has no official support for the apple watch, but their api is out there so i use an app called tessie that allows watch as a key and other things like automation (turn off sentry mode when i arrive home). auto wipers on the teslas are complete shit
Apple CarPlay feels like a deal breaker to me but most OEM are going for lockout now. If someone sends you an address on the phone. Do you have to manually input it into the nav? Blows my mind you’re gonna do 1500mi/mo in an electric car. I considered getting an EV because I now drive like 100 miles a month lol. Tesla is still the EV to get imo. They seem like the Apple of the car world. You wouldn’t want to drive a green bubble!!
yep, that’s the analogy i use for people, tesla is very much apple in terms of where they are in that market segment. their vertical integration has been successful. you literally buy the car like you’re buying something online. it’s all done through their app. you don’t need to talk to anyone so that dealership experience is a thing of the past. no crazy dealer markups or salesman predatory practices. price breakdown happens during checkout process so there’s zero hidden fees. their charging network is unsurpassed. it’s plentiful and extremely well maintained. all of their cars support the charging speeds. the chevy bolt charged at 50kw, i wanted to claw my eyes out. and this where the big win is. you can consider this where non-teslas are like android. they build the car but they can’t control what the charging infrastructure will look like so the customer’s start to get a sour experience here. there’s a tesla supercharging station here in raleigh with 24 chargers. normally 12 around here. electrify america is one of the bigger charging networks here and they usually max out at 8 and there’s usually 1 to 2 out of service at each location. you’re free to drive any ev you want but always consider the experience you’re willing to put up with.. still want to deal with a dealership? how comfortable/patient will you be in finding a working charger on road trips? regarding your question about navigation to an address on your phone.. no you can just share that location to the tesla app and it’ll send it to the car navigation. same thing with like a youtube video, share to tesla app and it’ll auto open the youtube app in car and play the video. it sounds like your range anxiety is a bit extreme i do like 50 miles a day. an 80% charge on my car covers about 225 miles. i charge it like a phone and charge it over night. i don’t even think about range unless i’m going on a road trip.
I’m sure they’re great for daily commuting. I wouldn’t want to use one for long trips. I’m currently on a 1,150 mile trip from South Florida to Houston (and back). There are some really sketchy parts of the Deep South that are like something out of Deliverance where I wouldn’t want to be stuck at a charging station waiting for the thing to charge for an hour. These places are scary and sketchy as hell for the less than 5 minutes it takes to pump gas. For these kinds of long family trips a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna is the way to go.
yeah, a 1000+ mile trip with a time limit isn’t ideal for ev’s as the charging time really adds up. my drive to orlando from raleigh is 600 miles and it’d be 4 charging stops totalling under an hour. you only charge for a long time if you are charging to 100% which no one does on road trips. it’s extremely inefficient. with a tesla, the supercharging stations are normally set up in shopping plazas with restaurants so normally not sketchy spots. i’m not sure how the charger stops look like for non-teslas
I got the model Y Long Range (320 miles) for my wife over a year ago and here are my thoughts. So far I'd say I'm pretty happy with it. The range anxiety is both real and an overblown issue for most people. I think the main problem is people's misunderstanding of how EV charging technology works. Getting gas is easy because we've been doing it for so long. Charging an EV can require planning ahead and weather can affect the range more than it does with an ICE car. We got a home charger and I guess we've probably only used the public charging about 6 times. Home charging is probably the most overlooked benefit when people are considering EVs. Yes public charging can take awhile, but that's balanced out by almost never having to use it and never having to go to gas station ever again. Also, all of my experiences with Tesla's public charging have been great with the exception of 1 time. Tesla makes it so dam easy to find an available charger and the payment system is painless. Sure it might take 10 to 20 minutes to charge, but there is a big TV in the car that has games, streams Youtube, Netflix or whatever. Plus food or coffee is usually near by. Despite all this, I'll admit that taking the car across the country would give me a little anxiety and require more planning than needed with an ICE car. But looking at our driving history over the past 10 years it's extremely rare to drive any car more than 300 miles and I still have an ICE F150 that we use for long road trips, so my concern is pretty unwarranted. Here is what I don't like. Tesla's desire to go with extreme minimalism on the interior is actually an inconvenience and a safety concern. Digging through menus while driving to adjust the horrendous auto wipers is not cool. No button on the glove box is stupid. The fact that I can't turn off regenerative breaking when driving on ice pisses me off, but the fact that it used to be an option and they took it away is even worse. The fact that Tesla can take away options or change how the car fundamentally operates without any kind of third party oversight seems crazy to me. And I know this isn't necessary a Tesla or even an EV problem, but I think at some point something bad is going to happen and then the government will step in and regulate. The full self driving thing is ass and phantom breaking is real. Getting insurance for a Tesla can be problematic and Tesla insurance is creepy spyware that raises your rates for driving at night or accelerating too fast. The auto wipers are just awful. The new camera based proximity system is just awful. No real key to unlock the doors if power is lost and internal manual door handle operation is not obvious. The fact that EVs are a hot political topic, and that some people want to vandalize them. Cold weather sucks for EVs. The one time I had less than a great experience with public charging was when we hit a freak snow storm on a long road trip. People were sliding off the roads and the Interstate got closed down. Normally the trip wouldn't need a charge, but the cold weather was killing the range. When we got to the Tesla charging facility it was packed because everyone else was having the same issue and charging can be slower in the cold, so that meant it was taking everyone longer to charge. It wasn't a horrible experience, but when the charge centers get full there really isn't a organized way to know who is next in line to charge. Wheels are dent magnets because they stick out. Elon Musk. Here is what I do like. Crap tons of instant power. 400HP on the non-performance version. Almost zero maintenance. Never going to a gas station. Buying was super easy and stress free. The powertrain and battery technology is really amazing. Tesla is still a generation ahead of every other EV car manufacture. Battery life is looking really good with 1% to 2% loss per year which means the battery will still last longer than the rest of the car. Monitoring the car remotely Environmental controls while not in the car, - dog and grocery mode.
Love that red. We bought ours in that weird part of 2023 where you had to keep the price down to get the full federal rebates. I think basic white and grey where the only colors that qualified.
lol i forgot that i didn't include a photo in my initial post so i went back and added it. Mazda released their Soul Red paint color some years ago. You may have seen some of their vehicles on the street with it. Tesla's ultra red is their version of it. Also, Tesla just dropped a bomb yesterday. They just dropped a new option for their new model 3 highland (LR RWD) that falls in the $35k range after the tax credit When you cross shop this against an accord or camry.. it's like what's the point?