Justify the cost to own

hobbit11

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Not where I'm from. I'd rather have the power to drive my CT by charging it from a 22 kW propane-powered standby generator and have the freedom to drive vs. being stuck at the house with a dead battery. Also need to keep the Misses happy by providing endless power for:

Two Refrigerators, (Kitchen plus Mother-In-Law Apartment)
One Chest Freezer,
One Well Pump,
One 2-ton A/C,
One 1-ton Mini-Split A/C, (M-I-L Apt.)
Led Lights throughout the house,
Two Computers,
One Grinder Pump for M-I-L Apt.
One Heat Pump Water Heater
Two Garage Door Openers
Security System plus cameras
Outside Perimeter Security Lighting

on the bright side, we Cook w/gas outside when needed.
My solar panel system will charge my CT during the day when not in use as a fully autonomous self driving vehicle that is earning money for me while I sleep...I need and want the V2G functionality...the last little piss ant storm, Zeta, that hit New Orleans had us out of power for 3-4 days. Still a plurality of traffic lights not working...don't need or want a loud, polluting natural gas generator when i have a 185 or better KwH power source in my 2 motor CT
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Stinkd

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I've saved $8300 so far for my CT. I suspect by the end of 2021 I will have $30,300. I ordered a dual motor, and the $7,000 FSD, that comes to about $57,000 plus registration and fees and all that. Hopefully by the time my CT is ready to be shipped maybe in February 2022 I will have saved $37,300.

$57,000 - $37,300 = $19,700
then add maybe $5,000 for fees and all, that comes to $24,700

The only car I ever bought brand new was Prius V5 with all the options, that came to about $36,000 if my memory proves semi-correct, and that car I drove for 5 years 2012 to 2017 and early on my Insurance on it because I had full Insurance was between about $177 per month, and my payments on the car were about $380 per month on the loan.

That car was amazing, I drove about 220,000 miles on it, it only ever needed a change of tires every approximately 50,000 miles, and the brakes I only probably fixed maybe twice, it was n incredible car getting about 39 MPG.

I sold it for $2,500 to a friend, and got about $3,200 insurance checks for damage I did to it that was covered. With the $2,500 plus the $3,200 I bought a used Prius V3 for $13,000.

I think CT will be an amazing investment. Having all this time to save to cut down the cost is awesome.
 
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SpaceYooper

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Definitely not scraping by. Can afford the truck even by the Dave Ramsey rules. Just generally very frugal when it comes to buying vehicles. I generally buy 2-3 yr old vehicles and hold for 200k+ miles. Posted the question, because I wanted to see how other people worked it out in their heads. Maybe there was something I hadn't considered. Since it's not only my daily driver, but also my hunting truck, I do need the tri-motor range. We also make several CO to MO and MI trips annually. The 500+ was the only thing that even made me consider buying.

The FSD add on was really only done because I felt like it might help the resale value 20 years from now, but since I have no idea how it transfers, or if can transfer, or if a model without FSD can acquire FSD with a new owner, the FSD may not be worth it to me. I would really like to know for certain how the transfer will or will not work before I finalize the purchase.
 


jerhenderson

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Or like me, living in northern Canada where there is 100km+ minimum between my town and the next one in all four directions, the Trimotor range gives flexibility on longer trips, especially in winter.
 
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SpaceYooper

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I've saved $8300 so far for my CT. I suspect by the end of 2021 I will have $30,300. I ordered a dual motor, and the $7,000 FSD, that comes to about $57,000 plus registration and fees and all that. Hopefully by the time my CT is ready to be shipped maybe in February 2022 I will have saved $37,300.
Good for you! Keep it up.

...early on my Insurance on it because I had full Insurance was between about $177 per month, and my payments on the car were about $380 per month on the loan.
Yikes...you must be young. My insurance is $77/month for my truck and averages about $80/month across all 3 vehicles. All with full coverage and low deductibles ($500 per vehicle).
 
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SpaceYooper

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$76K does not include tax, title, tag and shipping. Also $100/month seems very low for a high priced CT3. You can cut $20K by changing to a dual motor and if you need more range order additional battery if possible (300+ being standard on the dual plus talk of it being close to 350).If you do decide to change to a dual, check if it can be done when time to finalize the order and still be able to keep FSD at $7K.
I know the $76k isn't out the door costs. Neither was the $32k.

$100/mo might be low but it's about 25% higher then what I pay now. It's an estimate. If someone has a better estimate for what the CT3 will cost to insure, please post it. I think we are all waiting for Tesla Insurance to go national. Isn't it supposed to be cheaper then the competition?

Need the tri-motor range. I wouldn't consider an EV truck with less than a 500 mile range.
 

cybertrucktruckguy

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Assume you're right. You're paying a 44k premium. Then Assume you'll be able to drive it for 20 years. Thats $2,200 per year. That's $6.00 a day to climb into a combination supercar/off-road monster/Ultimate utility vehicle every morning. $6 a day to hit the accelerator and smile. $6 a day to own an amusement park ride disguised as a truck. I believe in you. You'll find a way to find that $6 a day.
 


Mudduck

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My solar panel system will charge my CT during the day when not in use as a fully autonomous self driving vehicle that is earning money for me while I sleep...I need and want the V2G functionality...the last little piss ant storm, Zeta, that hit New Orleans had us out of power for 3-4 days. Still a plurality of traffic lights not working...don't need or want a loud, polluting natural gas generator when i have a 185 or better KwH power source in my 2 motor CT
Lucky you. I looked into putting in a solar array at my place in the country, a ground mount system, I tried to convince myself cause I really wanted one but the numbers in my area did not work. I only pay 9 cents per kWh and I could not justify the cost of the system against the cheap grid power. As for noise, there ain't none. My standby generator is situated 150 feet away from the house where my meter is, when I built the place on the 6 acres I put the meter on a pedestal on the property edge so as to never have any meter readers on the property and I have a perimeter fence they could not get past anyway. My house has solid concrete walls (ICF) and the generator only puts out 65 db so we don't even hear it. The cows in our area pollute more than my stand by generator. Just like to keep my options open and not be limited.

When did you install the solar system, before or after Katrina? Is it a ground mount or roof mount?
 
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hobbit11

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Lucky you. I looked into putting in a solar array at my place in the country, a ground mount system, I tried to convince myself cause I really wanted one but the numbers in my area did not work. I only pay 9 cents per kWh and I could not justify the cost of the system against the cheap grid power. As for noise, there ain't none. My standby generator is situated 150 feet away from the house where my meter is, when I built the place on the 6 acres I put the meter on a pedestal on the property edge so as to never have any meter readers on the property and I have a perimeter fence they could not get past anyway. My house has solid concrete walls (ICF) and the generator only puts out 65 db so we don't even hear it. The cows in our area pollute more than my stand by generator. Just like to keep my options open and not be limited.

When did you install the solar system, before or after Katrina? Is it a ground mount or roof mount?
i was really fortunate in that i was able to self-contract my install. Went with Wholesale Solar. My contractor, whom i've known for a long time, did installs once upon a time. the biggest pain in the ass was the permitting required by the electrical utility but they were NOT gonna put me off. Ended up having to call the state Public Service Commission because of the "foot dragging". That lit the fire. Mine is on my roof. Installed in March 2020. Has SMA inverter which makes up to 45 KwH on my best day. It's a 7.7 Kw system and so far, so good. The utility here is extremely antiquated and we were out of power for 4 days with that little piss ant Cat 1 storm that made land fall. In some places, people were without power for months post Katrina. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 was a bitch. We ate sandwiches and Chef Boy o'De spaghetti out of the can for 11 days. I want to get off this damned grid!!!
 

ajdelange

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...45 KwH on my best day. It's a 7.7 Kw system and so far, so good.
45 kWh is enough to run a CT about 100 miles leaving nothing for any other use. It would take three and a half days to charge a CT to 80% at that rate. And that's on your best day. On an average day in June you will get about 3/4 of that i.e. 75 miles worth of charging if you use all of your production for that (warming your Chef Boyardee on a camp stove). In the winter you will have 30 - 50% of what you get in Jun. IOW your plan to charge the CT during the day for use as a taxi at night (you will have to drive) while your family sits in air conditioned comfort is totally unrealistic. Unless you live as Henry David Thoreau did (or, actually, claimed he did) you are going to need a much larger system than 7.7 kW to be totally off grid even without a BEV to charge.

I'm trying to do an off grid garage for my CT. I can put about 11 kW on the roof and that's marginal for one CT and heating with propane in the winter (plenty of juice for A/C in the summer though). And I'm not planning on running a taxi service.
 
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hobbit11

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45 kWh is enough to run a CT about 100 miles leaving nothing for any other use. It would take three and a half days to charge a CT to 80% at that rate. And that's on your best day. On an average day in June you will get about 3/4 of that i.e. 75 miles worth of charging if you use all of your production for that (warming your Chef Boyardee on a camp stove). In the winter you will have 30 - 50% of what you get in Jun.you can expect something like 60% of that and on your worst days 0. In the winter months your average. IOW your plan to charge the CT during the day for use as a taxi at night (you will have to drive) while your family sits in air conditions comfort is totally unrealistic. unless you live as Henry David Thoreau did (or, actually, claimed he did) you are going to need a much larger system than 7.7 kW to be totally off grid without a BEV to charge.

I'm trying to do an off grid garage for my CT. I can put about 11 kW on the roof and that's marginal for one CT and heating with propane in the winter (plenty of juice for A/C in the summer though). And I'm not planning on running a taxi service.
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thanks much for the feedback!
 

Crissa

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I can hear people's gennys in the next neighborhood over. So it's always an issue.

100 miles a day is alot of driving. At half that is 18250 which is far more than the average annual driving. Most people do much, much less.

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