Friend & longtime Tesla employee* David Havasi and I play with Smart Summon in a difficult situation. More dramatically, I’ve got a collection of fun and dramatic Smart Summon videos from Twitter to show you.
I published an analysis the other day showing the Tesla Model 3 undercutting the Toyota Camry on a 5 year cost of ownership forecast. The plan for a while has been to update these cost of ownership comparisons since prices, tax credits, and other matters have changed in the past several months. I honestly did not expect the Model 3 to come out on top after all of the changes, but it clearly did so in the comparison with the Camry. With that comparison in mind, it’s pretty certain where a similar 5 year cost of ownership comparison with the Honda Accord is going to go.
It’s time for another roundup of the 20 most popular stories of the week. As proof of the fact that you don’t even need “Tesla” in the headline to have a Tesla story go viral, the top story of the week was about the Honda Accord & Toyota Camry while silently being about the Tesla Model 3. The second most popular story compared the Model 3 to two top sellers on the other end of its gradient of competitors, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4.
We hosted a National Drive Electric Week event last Saturday in Sarasota, Florida. It was arranged very much at the last minute, but we were lucky to get dozens of electric vehicle drivers signed up nonetheless. The bulk of the attendees were Tesla owners, as you may have noticed from photos like the one above that I’ve been using here on CleanTechnica in the past several days. Exactly half of all the vehicles, 20 of them, were Tesla Model 3s.
There are several cost of ownership calculations out there between the Tesla Model 3 and the Toyota Camry, but there’s always room for more. In fact, as more and more Model 3s pop up around me week after week, I’m feeling like the Model 3 is the new Camry. Let’s … [continued]
Following up on my 5 year cost of ownership comparisons between the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus (SR+), the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (C300 and C300 4MATIC), and the Audi A4 (Premium and Premium Plus trims), it’s time to run an updated comparison between the Model 3 SR+, the BMW 3 Series, and the BMW 4 Series. It seems like this is the most relevant comparison you can make with the Model 3 SR+, since we already know the Model 3 beats sporty BMW driving at sporty, beats “the ultimate driving machine” at driving, and is stealing the title of Most Loved Car Brand Among Boys. What does BMW have left? Lower cost?
I got to enjoy Tesla vehicle software V10 10 days ago, and I have been suffering ever since while I have waited for my car to get the upgrade. The banquet of wonderful, beautiful, thrilling, boring, and fun new features perhaps makes this Tesla’s best vehicle software update yet. I already wrote about most of the improvements in that previous article. However, there are a few updates I didn’t note (or know about) at the time, so here are a few updates (regarding the updates):
I wrote earlier this week that I would conduct some new 5 year cost of ownership comparisons between the Tesla Model 3 and its top luxury car competitors. I’ve actually never before conducted an analysis comparing the Model 3’s cost of ownership to the cost of ownership of the Mercedes C-Class or Audi A4. I think the main reason is that it was just clear from the Model 3 comparison with the BMW 3 Series and 4 Series that the Model 3 would embarrass these other cars on a cost of ownership basis. Nonetheless, now seemed like a good time for a new round of comparisons.
As of today, we’ve had our Tesla Model 3 for one month. Is the thrill gone? Well, some of the early tingles and excitement have of course worn off, but the core point and core feeling is the same: this is the best car on the market. There are basically just four difficult things for me, which I’ll note at the end. First, though, I’ll run down the main items.
I wrote the other day about how crazy it is that there are still tens of thousands of Americans buying Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords month after month. Amidst the hundreds of thousands of views on that story, some people griped that the purchase price of a Model 3 is considerably higher than the purchase price of an Accord or Camry. A point I alluded to repeatedly is that the Model 3, despite a higher purchase price, may well have a lower 5 year cost of ownership than an Accord or Camry for many people. Yes, I’m sure there are some Accord and Camry buyers who couldn’t get financing for the ~$39,000 base price of a Model 3, but there are certainly many other Accord and Camry buyers who could quality for financing for a Tesla Model 3 — and then would reap financial savings over time while enjoying a much better car. But that’s all moot for the focus of this article — luxury cars.
