[DUMBGRUNT]

E-lec-tri-ci-teeeeee Costs less today, you know...

Says Little Bill! 57 sec video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fImf1GjE89Q

[Erik Latranyi]

What do you expect from a pro-electric website?

[CincyRichieRich]

So sunk cost doesn’t matter???

Econ 101

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

For how long. Depreciation will be a mountain when Tesla goes tits up. Tesla quality is atrocious. They just had a deal fall through with a rental company.

[GreyFriar]

I’ll keep my 2007 Saturn Vue.

[null and void]

[Fair Paul]

And Tesla owners aren’t burdened with paying any gas taxes to maintain roads.

[Secret Agent Man]

Now add in the real-life expenses of the cost of the typical tesla 3 vs cost of the typical camry.

[Joe 6-pack]

A quick look at the numbers cited raises an obvious question for me. The Tesla comes in way under the Toyota and Audi in "Maintenance/Repairs": $1,200 vs. $4K and $8K respectively. Fair enough. The electric car doesn't need routine oil changes, fluid level checks or have as complicated a transmission. But, and this is a big but, sooner or later, that battery will need to be replaced, and that one time cost is not only inevitable, but also significant, and this is where the figures cited in the article become dishonest.

That battery replacement may not figure into the first few years of ownership and operation which is the period the article covers. But it will invariably figure into the resale value, which does not seem to have been factored into the resale value figure cited in the article.

[Secret Agent Man]

The maintenance cost they assume for the camry over 5 years is outrageously high. It’s not 4 grand over 5 years.

[Ikeon]

Article pulls a few rabbits out of their butts.. Thats if you sell your car after 5 years. take away the resale value and the teslsa does not beat a camry. Are 5 year old tesla 3’s worth 19 grand? what about the battery? is it still good after 5 years?

[newfreep]

Let's see....

An ugly, poorly constructed coal-powered car that looks like Mazda3, has a limited range, poor performance in cold weather and has a toxic, hazardous battery to dispose (Tesla3)

vs

A sleek, superbly constructed gasoline powered car with superior handling (AudiA5/S5)...

[CincyRichieRich]

I’m thinking Texasgator must be a lib troll from Austin where economics doesn’t matter.

[Erik Latranyi]

Given Tesla’s reliability....how long will you be without the car while it is getting fixed?

[catnipman]

i notice they didn’t factor in the relative repair costs and wait times of a moderate collision for a Tesla 3 vs a Toyota Camry ...

[AustinBill]

Conveniently omitted is the need to install a significant upgrade to your electric service if you intend to be able to recharge at home in a reasonable amount of time. Plugging a Tesla into a standard 120v wall outlet gives you recharge times measured in days. The ideal convenience feature is a 220v inductive charging mat that automatically recharges the car whenever you pull into your garage at night, allowing you to be fully charged in the morning without having to deal with cords or risk forgetting to do that.

Ultimately you can expect that sort of thing to be part of new construction, but the retrofit cost onto an existing home is going to run you close to $10K. That's a one-time investment, but it's still very significant, even more so if you want to add solar roof tiles to get that juice "for free".

[Sparticus]

In my best faux enviro-weenie outrage voice, "Tesla? [Gasp], I would never drive one of those bougie nuclear and coal powered planet killer cars!"

[xp38]

Style wise the Tesla 3 is ugly to me. Camry looks the best with the Audi a close second. The Tesla S is the best looking of the Teslas so far but would still be behind the other two but not as much as the 3.

[rigelkentaurus]

I’m not even understanding this conversation.

If cost per mile is the sole driver to vehicle ownership, why did they pick these cars to compare?

The clear winner is to purchase someone like a 15 year old Toyota Corolla. As new cars will always lose in cost per mile ownership to purchasing a used vehicle due to depreciation. One can spend a tremendous amount of money on annual maintenance and still be dollars ahead vs the real cost of depreciation from a new car. The insurance savings is also very tangible.

With most vehicles able to go 300k+ miles before they are truly worn out, if cost of ownership is the driver, it is not even close.

If not for governments passing laws forcing the creation of electric cars and subsidizing them, there would be none today. Even if someone did make them, I have no problem with that.

What I do have a problem with is government working to pass laws forcing me to eventually buy one through banning internal combustion powered cars and trying to claim I should be buying an electric car anyway, well, because they are better. Electric cars will never meet my needs from an automobile, and for me therefore, will never be “better”.

[BobL]

Because it’s Saturday and I enjoy do this stuff, I decided to do my own price comparison between the two cars, and I’m doing it without reading the article.

Ingoing Assumptions:

Price (per Google):
Tesla 3: $35000
Camry SE: $26000

Miles Driven: 200,000
Battery Life (of Tesla): 120,000 miles
Engine/Trans Life (of Camry) : 250,000 miles

Maintenance Cost:
Tesla: 3 cents per mile
Camry: 5 cents per mile (higher due to engine/trans maintenance, and periodic replacement of battery, remaining items assumed a push)

Fuel/Electrical Cost:
Tesla: 3.5 cents per mile
Camry: 10 cents per mile

Battery Replacement Cost
Tesla: 1 time, $12,000 (I’ve seen 20k for the bigger models)
Camry: Not required

Residual Value after 200,000 miles: Assumed to be same for both, and not very much, so not included.

Totals:
TESLA
Purchase Cost: 35000
Maintenance Cost: 6000
Electricity Cost: 7000
Battery Cost: 12000
TOTAL, for TESLA: $60,000 (for 200,000 miles)

CAMRY
Purchase Cost: 26000
Maintenance cost: 10000
Fuel Cost: 20000
TOTAL, for CAMRY: $56,000 (for 200,000 miles)

So, a bit cheaper for the Camry, but closer than I expected.

I didn’t try to include the fact that people often have to bring their Tesla’s back to the dealer 10 times in the first year to try to get the bugs out, versus, maybe once for the Camry. I also didn’t try to include the opportunity cost of the time wasted plugging/unplugging the Tesla all the time, versus a few minutes at a gas pump. Nor did I try to include the time wasted on long trips waiting for the car to charge, or the cost of that charging (far more than charging at home if you want to charge quickly). Or the time spent on blogs bragging about one’s Tesla to justify its purchase, when that’s not needed for a Camry.

[mowowie]

Electric rates?
Apparently this guy has never plugged a car into one of my outlets..