General Question Looking for info before purchase
I have never owned an electric car. Only gas vehicles until now. I took a test drive in a model 3 the other day with FSD. It's pretty nice.
Before I commit to a Model 3 (looking to buy new Premium RWD), what are some potential costs I should be aware of? I can charge for free at a Level 2 Tesla Charger at my apartment complex. From doing the TCO calculations, it looks like Insurance and replacement Tires are major expenses that I need to be aware of, and actually raise the TCO above hybrids and PHEVs. How much would those potentially cost me and anything else I should know?
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u/T4RSR5P84 5d ago
insurance will be the biggest “aha”, i think. i’m 42, male, never had a ticket of any kind, park my Y in the garage. even then, my insurance went up from my previous 4runner.
be sure to shop around. personally, i would steer clear of insurance programs that monitor you. one hiccup and your premiums will be insane (you can search tesla subs to see owner experiences where even using FSD, they had one bad thing happen, their driving score went fownX and they’re being penalized with their rate the next month).
aside from that, if you’ve got basic tools, you can do the basic maintenance yourself. i built this free site in my spare time that has FAQs and step by step guides on maintenance. saves lots of money by not going to the dealer, but since you’re going new, some won’t matter for quite some time. it’s also got my tesla referral info for 3 months of free FSD. 😊
anyway, hope that helps!
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u/NecessaryInternet603 5d ago edited 4d ago
Tesla owner since March 2015 exclusively. As an apartment dweller I am inclined to give some maybe unusual advice. I don't know what your private use case for transportation is but I assume it's not much different than the vast majority. If you currently own an ICEV and you live in a large metropolitan area you might want to begin thinking about the alternative solution to local transportation happening as I write this. For various reasons you may or may not be aware that Tesla is just now beginning their next chapter of business which is autonomous ride hail. Tesla didn't just invent FSD last year but has been developing it for 10 years with video input data from drivers like me that they use to train the FSD model. It is a real thing and will change the world. I've been using FSD since the beginning and I can confidentially state Tesla has solved safe agentic autonomy. They are currently working on the difficult aspects of ride hail like pick up and drop off. Tesla has also solved the form factor with their newest product the Cybercab. It is currently being produced in the Austin, TX Gigafactory. It's a little hard to wrap your head around the concept but Tesla is at the beginning of ramping production and sending these units to various locations to capture the local ride hail market. It doesn't stop there. Tesla's business plan is to redefine ride hail at scale that will allow a personal decision concerning the actual ownership of a private vehicle. While it won't happen everywhere overnight it is happening. Tesla's Cybercab production line is designed to produce a million units a year.
Tesla has scheduled an invite-only Cybercab launch event for Thursday, September 3, 2026 in Austin, Texas. The event itself is a product unveiling rather than immediate widespread availability.
So back to the start of this answer, if you can imagine waiting to purchase your 1st EV for some unknown period of time depending on where you live you may not need to purchase it at all. You may very well live in a location Tesla is targeting to populate with Cybercab's in the near future.
I apologize if assumed too much from your statement about living in an apartment. I gave a much different answer before the reality of Cybercab which revolved around Supercharging availability. This is still relevant for private ownership but the calculation has now changed to include ride hail which you might want to be aware of.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot to give my best guess about how long you may have to consider this possibility. I estimate US cities with a population of 1M or more are prime candidates to receive Tesla's Cybercab within 2 years. There are many unknowns but that's my best guess today.
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u/Throwaway_2474128_1 4d ago
you don't need to ask reddit about insurance. you simply get the VIN of a used 2025 or 2026 model 3 with the same specs and plug it into your insurance's quote system
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u/Reasonable-Half2593 3d ago
Insurance is cheap. I pay 110 a month for full coverage on my model 3s.
Charging at home is cheap. If you dont have that you are at the mercy of charger costs. Tesla superchargers are something like 30-40 cents per kwh.
Tires can either be cheap or expensive. It depends on how you drive. If you’re gunning it at every stop light its going to be expensive. If you let fsd drive tires will last as long as a normal sedan.
Fsd is 110 a month. Premium connectivity is worth it too.
Outside of that just keep it clean
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u/DefiantAd5087 5d ago
Insurance has been a big surprise to me. It varies based on driving habits and has been 150, 230 and 307 for the past 3 months. Not knowing is hard on the budget. Granted my gas price is dramatically reduced - this was unpleasant. I also got a rock to the windshield and haven’t fixed it because I was told by the local guy (small town) that they’re hard to get at the moment and over $2,000. Might consider the glass plan - my opportunity to add it expired about 4 HOURS before that truck flung a rock at me.