Cheap Tesla. Worth a punt?

[Dustydog]

Today’s DT has a full page spread. Here’s a summary. Look pretty good value overall.
Would you be tempted? Shame it’s not a proper hatchback.

And yes – it has its original battery. An independent test revealed it still had a 90 per cent state of health after four years.

The stats​

• Tested: 2021 Tesla Model 3 AWD Long Range
• List price when new: £49,990
• Price as tested: £12,500
• Official range when new: 382 miles (WLTP)
• Test range (best/worst): 230-290 miles (winter to summer)
• Average test efficiency: 3.6m/kWh

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Might be tempted to swap it for a punt 🤔🙄

 

[otherclive]

Mileage?
Yes, an excellent runabout to replace our Rio. The boot is probably as big as thexRio with seats down. Model Y would be preferable .

 

[JTQ]

What cost to have a home charging point, if that is required in your circumstances?

 

[otherclive]

What cost to have a home charging point, if that is required in your circumstances?

My grandsons 7kw unit was fitted for just over £1000 and from Octopus, who supplied his Tesla Model Y on lease. But it’s his, and can be relocated to another house with installation costs.

 

[JTQ]

7 kWh, so at 100% conversion efficiency suggests a useful 25 mile/hour peak charging .
Therefore in our case an over night charge would mean it covers 95% of any use we have.
Seven kWh with the other domestic loads looks like what is doable on a normal single phase house supply, is that about the limit?
Or are these things smart enough anyway to shed its load if the home requirements require it?

 

[otherclive]

7 kWh, so at 100% conversion efficiency suggests a useful 25 mile/hour peak charging .
Therefore in our case an over night charge would mean it covers 95% of any use we have.
Seven kWh with the other domestic loads looks like what is doable on a normal single phase house supply, is that about the limit?
Or are these things smart enough anyway to shed its load if the home requirements require it?

There are differences between domestic EV chargers, this article explains how load balancing can be achieved. In my grandsons case his puts most of the charge in overnight at low rate tariff. But it can boost the car if for example if it’s required to go out in the evening. But he rarely uses that facility and the vast majority of energy is low tariff.

Electrical load management for EV charging systems

EV charging adds considerable load to household electrical circuits - an average UK driver covering 19 miles daily consumes 6kWh of electricity, adding 180kWh

diligentelectrical.co.uk

 

[Buckman]

Good price, but a hell of a drop in price over 4 years from £50k down to almost £12k?

 

[otherclive]

Good price, but a hell of a drop in price over 4 years from £50k down to almost £12k?

Do we know its mileage as that will obviously infuence the price. Locally I have seen three year old Model Ys at £20k with 50-60 thousand miles.

 

[Andy Norfolk]

I wouldn't have one if they were giving them away.

 

[Buckman]

Do we know its mileage as that will obviously infuence the price. Locally I have seen three year old Model Ys at £20k with 50-60 thousand miles.

True, but with an EV a higher mileage shouldn't that indicate that the battery was topped regularly therefore would be in good condition?

 

[otherclive]

Question I cannot answer.


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[JTQ]

I suspect with the drive system mileage covered is not as damaging as it is perceived to be with ICE, not that in reality these are that damaged by the mileage but more how the vehicle has been used.
With the little I know on lithium technology battery care, including manual advice in non EV applications it is the charging rate and use span the battery has been exposed to that affects longevity.

One has consider a high mileage vehicle rather infers it did a lot of long journeys, and from that the greater likelihood it needed fully charging and deep depletion. That in turn rather hints it needed frequent fast recharges, as the daily boosts can't have been for a few tens of miles the following day, and a daily pattern of that.

All said its "cheap" enough if going EV has its appeals, and its a vehicle that could meet your needs, to be worth having a try.

 

[otherclive]

I suspect with the drive system mileage covered is not as damaging as it is perceived to be with ICE, not that in reality these are that damaged by the mileage but more how the vehicle has been used.
With the little I know on lithium technology battery care, including manual advice in non EV applications it is the charging rate and use span the battery has been exposed to that affects longevity.

One has consider a high mileage vehicle rather infers it did a lot of long journeys, and from that the greater likelihood it needed fully charging and deep depletion. That in turn rather hints it needed frequent fast recharges, as the daily boosts can't have been for a few tens of miles the following day, and a daily pattern of that.

All said its "cheap" enough if going EV has its appeals, and its a vehicle that could meet your needs, to be worth having a try.

I suspect mileage on a pre owned EV that is for sale has the same psychological effect on potential new owners as with ICE cars, buy as you say it’s probably less significant, other than on the normal wearing parts. Short journeys have far less impact on EV than ICE.

 

[RogerL]

I suspect mileage on a pre owned EV that is for sale has the same psychological effect on potential new owners as with ICE cars, buy as you say it’s probably less significant, other than on the normal wearing parts. Short journeys have far less impact on EV than ICE.

It's difficult to judge as very few drivers in the UK keep their cars for long enough mileages to know how long modern engines/transmissions last - unlike other parts of the world where 2-300,000 miles isn't uncommon for the original owner.

Most cars are scrapped in the UK because they're uneconomical to repair, either from relatively minor accident damage, potentially expensive electronic issues or less frequently from structural rust.

EVs aren't immune from any of those and some, like Tesla's have large complex castings in their structures which make some accident repairs more expensive and increase the risk of insurance write-off. EVs won't have issues with electronic issues from engine management systems but have plenty of other electronics which can go expensively wrong.

It's absolutely right that potential EV owners should consider the obvious cost differences like fuel/energy, insurance, VED and BIK tax in the case of company car users, but it would be a major folly to assume that EVs will cost less to maintain than IC cars.

 

[Dustydog]

Do we know its mileage as that will obviously infuence the price. Locally I have seen three year old Model Ys at £20k with 50-60 thousand miles.

180,000 uk miles Used as an Uber taxi.

 

[Buckman]

180,000 uk miles Used as an Uber taxi.

Apologies, I didn't realise that the £12,500 was what they would pay you to take it off their hands? 🤣 🤣 🤣

 

[otherclive]

180,000 uk miles Used as an Uber taxi.

That’s useful as even with that mileage its battery condition at 90% gives confidence that batteries are lasting longer than some would think. That’s what Nissan found with the Leaf Mk1 which had a pretty unsophisticated battery by current standards. Their business to use old batteries for domestic storage systems went on hold. Their new Leaf now has a more advanced battery made in Sunderland.