How Owning A Tesla Model 3 For 1 Year Has Changed My Life

Originally published on Aniseh Sharifi’s website.
By Aniseh Sharifi

I’ve owned the Model 3 for exactly one year now. What I like most about the car is that it’s 100% electric, burns no gas, and has zero emissions. There’s so much to the car that I love, and I mean it when I say that the car has changed my life. I realize that’s a big statement to make so I’d like to explain what I mean by that.

Here are five ways that the car has changed my life and why I love it so much:

1. I’m richer for it. I’ll admit that having qualified for the Ontario incentive back in 2018 was a huge help. I may not have been able to afford the car without it. I put the entire lump sum towards my lease and used it to bring down my monthly payments. I’ve been mostly charging at work for free and using Supercharging to top up in between trips. The savings in gas alone has been significant – see below. 

Other than buying winter tires, I’ve had no maintenance fees this year. Although it is recommended to have the vehicle checked once a year and I do intend on doing this.

2. I’m healthier for it. While learning about my carbon footprint, my attention was quickly directed to food and how we generally consume it. During my research and after watching several eye-opening documentaries, I decided to change my eating habits. Since then, I’ve cut 90% of red meats and 80% of other animal products, including dairy from my diet. This area of change has had the most immediate and drastic results in my life. I’ve noticed an overall increase in my health and energy. There’s no doubt that I slack off at times and enjoy an extra cheesy slice of pizza because let’s be real, I’m just not that disciplined about anything in my life (#YOLO), but I am so much more aware of what I’m eating now.

3. I’m lighter for it. The car is so simple and yet so functional. I started to reflect on this and asked myself if living the simple life was better for me too? I was traveling in Vancouver and observed new friends choosing a minimalistic lifestyle with ease and grace. It fascinated me, and I remember coming back home from that trip and clearing out my entire apartment. Throughout the process, I kept asking myself, do I really need this? Does it make me happy and bring value into my life, or is it something I purchased to instantly gratify myself, and now it’s clutter. I donated, gifted, recycled, and threw out a lot of “stuff.” I also realized that I own so much and that going forward I would stick to a few buying rules before bringing anything new into the house.

4. I’m communicating better for it. The car attracts attention, and people have a lot of questions. It’s usually the same questions like, “how long does it take to charge, where do you charge, how much does it cost?” I’ve learned to be patient with the questions and thorough with my responses. THIS has been a huge game changer in my communication skills in general. With friends, coworkers, family, and customers, I’ve become better at the explaining. I use to rush through a conversation and skip important parts that I wanted to mention and later beat myself up for it. The lack of confidence in myself could have been a factor, which I’ve worked on over the years. I’ve taken the time to learn more about the car and the related topics so that I can be better prepared when answering questions. I can see that people are genuinely interested, and I want to enthusiastically engage with everyone so that they can continue their research and conversation long after talking to me.

5. I’m friendlier for it. Owning an EV has introduced me to a whole new world. I’ve joined new groups and clubs, and I’ve met so many people that I would never have met had it not been for our mutual interest in electric cars. The community is very active, and the people all have the same goal, and that is to share the benefits of owning an EV. The car has given me an outlet to write about and connect with others through my blog and on social media from all over the world. I love this so much, and I’ve learned to be so much more open and welcoming just by talking about the car.

You’ll notice that only one of the reasons listed above is related to a brand or one specific manufacturer (Model 3 minimalistic interior design). I’ve recently concluded that the reason why every other EV owner and I love our cars so much is simply because it’s an electric car. It’s the driving and charging experience that’s so special that we enjoy so much. It’s a completely different feel behind the wheel compared to a gas car, regardless of the brand. The drive is 90% of the package, and the bells and whistles are the remaining 10%. Driving an electric car has changed my life, and now you know how it has done this. Are you curious to see how it will change your life?

Editor’s note: This is such a fabulous and unique review, so I want to give an extra special thanks to Aniseh for allowing us to republish it on CleanTechnica.