Tesla

The driving experience is unmatched. All electric with 310 miles of range is plenty. We went to FL from NC over Thanksgiving of 2018 with only 2 stops a Superchargers each way. 40 minute charge time each stop. Cost per mile of electricity is $0.03/mile, whereas cost of gas alone (not including oil, filter, radiation fluid, trans fluid, etc that my EV does not need!) is ~3x at $0.10.

We charge at home about every other night very easily overnight with a 220V NEMA 14-50 plug. The Model 3 can pull up to 32A from that and charges at 28 miles of charge per hour added to the battery with that current. To prolong battery life I usually dial the current back such that it'll get to the charge level I set (about 80%, or ~250miles) about 1 hour before we need the car the next morning, so between 12 and 18amps usually. Batteries lose some charge in cold weather, but it's very manageable. They say up to 30%, but I've seen maybe 20%. Simple to plan for though.

Autopilot and Navigate on Autopilot are amazing! Too much to say, but this is the best car I've ever owned, period. No shifting, not transmission, just smooth continuous acceleration, and great torque from 1rpm with dual electric motors. Immediate response at any speed. Beautiful car inside and out, and the experience is the thing that is so amazing. All glass roof, minimalist dash with all controls on the 15inch touch screen, two control knobs on the steering wheel, a turn signal lever and a gear stalk. However, those things are somewhat customizable also, and changed function based on what mode you're in. If you're parked (in "Park"), and playing the include Atari video games, the knobs on the steering wheel and the steering wheel itself become controls for the video games!! Wow!

Ok, I could go on an on, but you get the idea. It's really hard to go back to driving our other cars now: Toyota Sienna Van, and Honda Accord. Can't wait to get our next Tesla vehicle. I don't see every buying another brand if I can afford it. And I'll certainly buy used if I end up with another gas car, but I may buy a used EV before I do that if the need comes for another car when the Toyota or the Honda needs replaced.

Oh, I must talk about the regenerative braking! I hardly ever used the brakes - usually only from 15mph to zero, maybe a little sooner if I'm coming in quicker, but one can basically drive with the accelerator pedal and regulate both speeding up and slowing down in most normal driving situations. What does this mean? ... well, of course, that brakes hardly ever wear out! Another savings versus a gas car.

The infotainment is so far ahead of the competition that it is incomparable - as if we hit fast forward a decade or more. The Tesla touchscreen and navigation work so well that they replaced my iPhone as my navigation source. I’m not a safety expert, but I can say that the AWD version is hard to lose control of. The 2nd day I had the vehicle my city, St. Louis has 9 inches of snow and the Model 3 gobbled it up. Since then other snows or ice events have occurred and I’ve found it to be the most stable sedan I’ve ever driven despite not purchasing winter tires.

I am no audiophile, however; the sound system exceeded my expectations. Driving the vehicle is pure joy. Or glee. Both. It is so quiet yet so responsive. I simply laugh when getting behind the wheel of other vehicles now - they all feel so outdated and cumbersome. Having the Model 3 accelerate quietly, quickly, and on demand is such a game changer and driving with 1 foot while relying on regenerative braking for deceleration simplifies the experience. Tesla truly made the world better by introducing the Model 3 as everybody benefits from the increase in attention every new vehicle on the road will receive in order to compete. Based on my experience there is no competition as far as driving dynamics and infotainment. Everybody will have to improve.

As far as reliability, I've had no issues with the car and I must say its been the most enjoyable car I've ever driven. Nearly 4 months of driving now and I love it as much now as the day I drove it home. I think the issues that people complain about are temporary as Tesla is a new car company and every new company has growing pains and they are not solved overnight. You can't compare Tesla to Mercedes or Lexus who are legacy car companies who have had years to perfect their service. Best car I've owned.

All the updates are done over the air, some improvements are obvious and some subtle. No more trips to gas stations - we charge Model 3 at home (We do have solar panels installed, not from Tesla as a local company offered better deal), or at work occasionally. We charge the battery between 25% to 90% in order to extend the battery lifespan (8-year warranty), so we get about 180-200 miles between charging, not a problem at all for my wife who drives 10-15 miles round trip to work.

I drive to office once a week. It is 70 miles from home, but there are 4 Tesla Supercharging stations along the way, charging speed at 250-350 miles/hour. So I drive the 2016 Model S that has lifetime unlimited supercharging, plus I can use carpool lane! (To use the carpool lane, one does need to get stickers from DMV for $22 in California.) The car is so responsive and fun to drive. Because of energy regeneration system, one rarely uses brakes. Some owners reported no change of brake pads till 90K miles! Only thing that might need to be replaced more often are the tires. We do keep one gas car at home for emergency or airport use (2014 MB E350), driving it reminds us how primitive automobiles used to be. :):)

We had no issues with the Model 3 so far. The 2016 Model S had a warning for one of the 12 parking sensors. I used Tesla app in my phone to schedule an appointment. A service rep called beforehand to address my concerns. The service center in San Diego is very nice, everything went smoothly. While they were working on the sensor, I was provided with a complimentary loaner car (2018 Model S with 3000 miles).

I told him that I just washed the car and I am 100% sure that this scratch is not there when I drove the car into the dealership. The technician said that he believes in Tesla technicians and Tesla technicians will never lie and Tesla never hires Technicians that lie. (So, looks like he confirmed that I am the one that is lying and he is almost directly blaming me).

I asked him that I want to check the video footage as I don't believe in his claim that the scratch did not happen at the time of service and I am 100% sure that it happened in the dealership. But he said that there are no security cameras inside and there is no way he/I can verify that. I am sure that there is a way to see what happened inside, right from the time I came in until I drove the car out of tesla dealership, but they are hiding that information to coverup their mistake. Terrible experience, there is nothing I can do at that time, other than walk out with a scratched car out of the dealership. I am not sure.

Every month, we would receive a Tesla statement on the 2016 car, and we would return it in the mail with the turn-in information. ONE YEAR LATER, we were turned into a Collection Agency and started receiving statements and robot-phone calls from them! This has been going on since September 2018. It is now August 2019 and we still have no confirmation that this situation has been resolved, although the Tesla "humans" say that "everything is all cleared up"!!!