See my energy usage and cost spreadsheet for details. Scroll to the right for the charts. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16JLSzoWA0154ZUU3ahJ_...
Consequently, with more and more people switching over, the amount of taxes available for road maintenace, etc. will decrease and the electricity for driving will have to be taxed much in the same way as gasoline is and thus eliminating the savings early adopters are currently enjoying.
We do not ride for free. We pay an extra ~$100 a year (formula based on cost of car. I think it should be based on the weight of the vehicle personally. My Model 3 SR+ doesn't weigh any more than a regular gasoline car) for registration here in California which covers the road maintenance so no need to worry there.
Further, a fixed fee penalizes people that drive a lot exactly as much as people that barely drive whereas a tax on the consumed quantity, gas or electricity, takes into account how much a person is using the road infrastructure.
Also note that here in CA if the car costs more the registration fee for the EV is more than $100 so I think that helps make up for the difference as well.
Also, a Toyota Corolla for example only weighs 2,910 to 3,150 lbs according to google.
In terms of size, the Model 3 is closer aligned to a Camry than a Corolla. The Camry is ~3300-3600 lbs.
It absolutely does. The Honda Civic hatchback has 3. cubic feet more cargo room than the Tesla 3 with the seats down (including the frunk) and weighs 600 lb less.
For any like-for-like car, an electric car is significantly heavier. Look at, e.g. the gasoline Kia Soul (2,800 lb) vs the EV Kia Soul (3,700 lb).
None of the cars you listed are under 3,500 lb, meanwhile, many compact gasoline cars are under 3,000 lb, with subcompacts under 2,500 lb. Batteries are heavy.
The average midsize car is 3361 lbs and the model 3 SR+ is 3600 lbs so 239 lbs is the difference between the two for an extremely good EV. It is very good to spread this information.
Provincial motor fuel tax (Metro Vancouver) — 1.75 cents
Provincial motor fuel tax (everywhere else in B.C.) — 7.75 cents.
B.C.'s carbon tax — 8.89 cents.
The B.C. Transportation Finance Authority tax — 6.75 cents.
TransLink tax (If you live in Metro Vancouver) — 17 cents, increasing to 18.5 cents on July 1.
Transit tax (If you live in Victoria) — 5.5 cents.
Federal excise tax — 10 cents.
Finally, pay the five per cent Goods and Services Tax on top of the total price.
This means that when EVs become more popular, there'll be clever ways of taxing them too, whether it's an insurance surcharge or an up-front purchase tax or some sort of special "electricity for EVs" tax. This is the honeymoon period when they seem super cheap to drive, but that'll change as they replace fuel-powered cars and someone needs to pay for the roads/infra.
However looking at road fuel use US uses something like 5-10x more fuel per year when compared with EU states.
That's kinda insane.
The lizard battery chemistry introduced around 2014 addressed a lot of the issues with degradation and those issues really only came up in climates like Arizona and Texas with punishing heat.
Unless you're driving a lot during extreme heat waves or DC Fast Charging regularly, you'll be fine in most climates.
Thermal Management Systems are definitely better but it's not really problematic.
I have a 2015 with a heat pump, heated seats, and heated steering wheel so it takes very little to get comfortable. And it gets comfortable about 15 minutes faster than my old 2007 Honda Accord did.
I can't speak for the 2nd Gen models but the 1st Gen models with the Sat Nav infotainment have a power monitor screen that shows how much power systems are drawing and how much range you gain when shutting them down. I've never seen a gain of more than 5 miles when 100% charged, it's usually 2 miles. Only one time have I been in a situation where that mattered and it was entirely my own fault.
Another thing to consider is, that unless your commute consumes the entire range of the vehicle then it doesn't really matter as long as you can charge every night. I use to have a 50 mile round trip commute and I would charge on a regular 120v circuit every night when I got home, I never had issues. If I needed to run an errand I could plug the car in at work and come out with 100% charge at the end of the day.
These better be some insane savings considering my car cost 22k€ and the cheapest Tesla available (2014 Model S with 279 000 km driven) is 38k€.
If the 600 € documentation fee doesn't apply to the 50,000 € max price restriction, you might be able to get a 2,000 € incentive for the Model 3, which would bring it down to 48,560 €.
For comparison, a new Mercedes-Benz C-Class starts at 38,750 € and a Volkswagen Golf starts at 24,400 €.
Did you compare theoretical (gasoline) vs measured (electric) values?
The cost difference is quite significant. What is the error here?
While I knew electric engines can be more efficient, I was surprised by these numbers.
On the other hand, you need to consider the amortized cost of the vehicle itself; both a higher vehicle cost and the likelihood of a somewhat lower vehicle lifetime. Maybe increased performance counteracts some of this for you?
Further complicating things is maintenance. Oil changes are avoided. Brake pad changes are reduced. But tire wear is usually increased...
And after all this, there's the convenience differences (both ways). You never need to go to a gas station for a normal drive. But road trips suck a lot more.
Even if you imagine the electricity comes from a gasoline power plant, the efficiency at the plant will be higher than a regular car ICE because of scale benefits + use of a cold sink (ocean/river).
Also, the gasoline numbers are actual numbers at the pump. I logged them every time I filled up my old 2014 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid. The amount of energy in a gallon of gasoline is not theoretical, it is very close to 33.7kWh.