If it weren’t for the Tesla Model Y, the sedan-shaped Model 3 would probably rule the EV game, at least in the United States. Tesla’s most affordable car is almost always breathing down its crossover sibling’s neck in the sales charts, and for good reason.
It’s one of the most compelling EVs on the American market today, with more than decent range, a spacious enough cabin, an iPhone-esque vibe when looking at the tech and an attractive price. But what happens after you buy one? How much does it cost to run a Tesla Model 3 for several years as a daily driver? YouTuber Andy Slye has the answer.
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EVs save you money
It's no secret that electric vehicles can save you money compared to owning a gas-powered vehicle, especially when charging at home. But Andy Slye's latest YouTube video shows just how much money he saved by driving his 2018 Model 3 compared to a similarly-priced combustion BMW 3 Series.
Slye got his long-range Model 3 brand new in 2018 when he paid $54,000 after all the fees and tax credits were taken into account. In the six years of ownership, he drove a little over 144,000 miles in his EV and made a note of every cost that popped up along the way, including charging, repairs, tires and accessories.
You can watch the 10-minute video embedded at the top of this page to check out all the little details. The gist of it is as follows.
The biggest amount of money was spent on charging–home charging, to be precise. Slye said he charges his EV at home 95% of the time and takes advantage of the pretty low energy price of $0.08/kilowatt-hour.
After 144,316 miles traveled, the car gobbled up 36,482 kWh for an average energy consumption of 253 Wh/mile or 3.9 miles/kWh. His home charger provided 34,658 kWh of energy to the car for a total price of $2,772. The remaining 5% of charging was done at Tesla Superchargers, where Slye’s Model 3 added a total of 1,824 kWh for an estimated cost of $583. The fun part is that he never paid for the Supercharger top-ups because he has unlimited Supercharging through Tesla’s referral program.
Gallery: 2018 Tesla Model 3
Adding all the charging costs (even though the DC fast charging was complimentary)and the $900 paid to install a NEMA 14-50 outlet in his garage, it comes out to an average of just $0.03/mile. Slye goes on to compare the refueling costs to a gas-powered 2018 BMW 3 Series and reckons he saved about $20,000 in fuel alone by charging his EV at home.
Besides charging, $2,720 was paid for two sets of tires, a couple of blow-outs and some tire rotation procedures, and another $2,040 was spent on out-of-warranty repairs. The biggest chunk of the repair costs–a little over $1,000–was attributed to a pair of new front control arms and lateral links. A repair for a charge port door that refused to open anymore was another $300.
For insurance, the YouTuber said he pays about $100/month, while registration costs him roughly $350/year.
With the price of the car included, this particular Model 3 ended up costing Andy Slye just over $75,000 after 144,000 miles. Is it too much, or too little? You be the judge in the comments section below.
