So we bought our second EV last month before the tax credits expired. We qualified for it based on our 2024 income and had been considering it since 2024, but decided in May 2024 to buy a used Tesla instead for $30k because paying $50k seemed a lot. Anyway after we bought our 2021 Tesla DH really enjoyed the self-driving and foudn it useful. So we made a plan to buy a new tesla end of 2025 right before we would lose the $7500 tax credit. Since they moved it up, we moved up our purchase. So we have two Teslas Model Y now a generation apart and will honestly buy the next generation after it comes out.
The cost to insure the tesla are substantial. But i'm not sure if it's expensive because it's newer cars that cost more than what we we were driving or because rising prices. Either way i used chatgpt to calculate the kwh averaged and the cost. It worked out to 447 kWh per month for the EV. That worked out to about $67.27/month or $807/year. Is this cheaper than gas? A little. Based on my spreadsheet we spent around $2000/year on gas. That works out to about $1200/year savings. But the cost of electricity has bee rising fast as well.
Of course it's also cheaper to maintain the EV so there is that. But the increased cost of tires and insurance might balance that out. Either way it's fun to drive and I think there is some savings gas wise.
Would i suggest people buy an EV? I think if you are at the point of replacing your gas car it's worth looking into. I don't think if you had a new car it's worth trading in. We got our EV because DH last year had his car totalled so we needed to get a new car for him. Then because it was definitely what we wanted we got it new and now I'm driving the 2021 Model Y. It replaced my 2015 Sienna minivan which was also a great car but we don't really need a people hauler anymore since I've been carpooling less. This is pretty much my last year.
It last 8 years 2017-2025 and we paid $28k for it and sold it back for $16k. Great deal bought used. I'm sure we could also trade in the used tesla but for now we are keeping it. I am leaning to seeing if DK1 drives ok for year then giving her the 2021 tesla and then getting something different for me, or potentially DH will get another tesla and we'll just keep handing them down.
October 29th, 2025 at 03:16 pm 1761751019
Either way, I agree that it's a harder sell now without the tax credits.
November 1st, 2025 at 04:45 am 1761972348
November 1st, 2025 at 07:28 pm 1762025305
@Tabs, No EVs do not require an eventual battery change. This is probably the most common and legitimate concern type question I get about our own EV. We personally bought low cost cars ($15K) with very long battery warranties. Which may be another reason CA is so far along with EV adoption (in addition to high gas prices). We do have better car warranties in our state. We have a 9yo EV and a 9yo plug-in hybrid. My hybrid warranty expired after 8 years. I think the EV battery warranty was 10 years? & it got reset/prolonged re: a big recall at some point (nothing wrong with our battery, but it was an abundance of caution thing.) So I have an EV warranty until 2030 (on a 2017). Anyway, there's nothing about either of these car models or their history that would suggest we should fear an EV battery replacement, or that we should be worried about battery degradation at all. This was obvious when we bought used cars re: cars that had been made for many years. & of course, there's newer/improved technology at this point. 10 years newer than when we bought.
November 2nd, 2025 at 08:44 pm 1762116271