Cheapest car this man has ever owned

When Tesla came out with model 3, this blogger bought one in 2018 which was advertised as MSRP beginning in the high $40K. Tesla would not announce the version in the high $30K for another year.

He paid out the door in 2018 (with taxes, license, etc) ~ $56,000. But he got a $7500 federal tax credit and a $500 Southern California Electric cred so he expended about $48,000. He put on 35,000 miles over the next 30 months and resold for $42,000.

So he calculated that his capital outlay was $48,000-$42,000 = $6,000 over the 30 months or $200/month.

Now the cost of that electricity to drive 35,000 miles is ~$1200, but to drive a gasoline vehicle for 35,000 miles @ 25 mpg = 1400 gallons of gasoline @ $3/gallon = $4,200. So he figures he saved fuel costs $4,200-$1,200 = $3,000 over the 30 months (or $100/month).

So by his calculation the Tesla Model 3 only cost him $100 a month for 30 months, as his capital outlay was $200/month but he saved $100/month in fueling relative to a gasoline vehicle.

Now many people spend $100/month on Starbucks lattes in SOCAL, and he was driving a high performance electric vehicle for that price. He refers to it as the "cheapest car he has ever owned".

Compare that to Joe Shmoo who is driving a decade old econobox (gets 35 mpg) and that is already paid off. For him to drive 35,000 miles over same time period requires 1000 gallons of gasoline which is $3000 worth of gasoline which divided by 30 months is $100 per month,

So the conclusion is for this man, he was driving a Tesla for 2.5 years and it cost him the same amount of money as a poor person who drives an econobox.

Do you buy that calculation?

Quote: Pacomartin

When Tesla came out with model 3, this blogger bought one in 2018 which was advertised as MSRP beginning in the high $40K. Tesla would not announce the version in the high $30K for another year.

He paid out the door in 2018 (with taxes, license, etc) ~ $56,000. But he got a $7500 federal tax credit and a $500 Southern California Electric cred so he expended about $48,000. He put on 35,000 miles over the next 30 months and resold for $42,000.

So he calculated that his capital outlay was $48,000-$42,000 = $6,000 over the 30 months or $200/month.

Now the cost of that electricity to drive 35,000 miles is ~$1200, but to drive a gasoline vehicle for 35,000 miles @ 25 mpg = 1400 gallons of gasoline @ $3/gallon = $4,200. So he figures he saved fuel costs $4,200-$1,200 = $3,000 over the 30 months (or $100/month).

So by his calculation the Tesla Model 3 only cost him $100 a month for 30 months, as his capital outlay was $200/month but he saved $100/month in fueling relative to a gasoline vehicle.

Now many people spend $100/month on Starbucks lattes in SOCAL, and he was driving a high performance electric vehicle for that price. He refers to it as the "cheapest car he has ever owned".

Compare that to Joe Shmoo who is driving a decade old econobox (gets 35 mpg) and that is already paid off. For him to drive 35,000 miles over same time period requires 1000 gallons of gasoline which is $3000 worth of gasoline which divided by 30 months is $100 per month,

So the conclusion is for this man, he was driving a Tesla for 2.5 years and it cost him the same amount of money as a poor person who drives an econobox.

Do you buy that calculation?

The only thing missing is either the interest on the loan for the vehicle or his lost opportunity with the funds if he paid cash.

Quote: Pacomartin

Compare that to Joe Shmoo who is driving a decade old econobox (gets 35 mpg) and that is already paid off. For him to drive 35,000 miles over same time period requires 1000 gallons of gasoline which is $3000 worth of gasoline which divided by 30 months is $100 per month,
So the conclusion is for this man, he was driving a Tesla for 2.5 years and it cost him the same amount of money as a poor person who drives an econobox.

Quote: kenarman

The only thing missing is either the interest on the loan for the vehicle or his lost opportunity with the funds if he paid cash.

That is true. Joe Shmoo driving the paid off econobox doesn't have $50K to tie up for 30 months. He also probably doesn't have a garage, or the money to rewire it for EV charging.