Will this change my life?
How much will an EV impact my lifestyle?
My goal was 200,000kms. That was how many kilometres I was planning for my 2012 VW Polo before I upgraded.
Coming from a lifestyle of a new car every two years, this was new ground for me. I was coming up to ten years with this little baby! I loved this car. I loved more than driving our main car, a diesel Mazda 6 with a Bose sound system. The Polo was economical, nippy in tight situations and you can park it anywhere. Nice enough to drive, not nice enough to steal! The perfect car for me.
Then this happened!
On my way to golf. Waiting at the lights when a drunk driver missed his turn. The only panel he hit was the driver’s side door. My door. Fortunately, he had gone through the traffic lights first and then a glancing blow. But enough to write the car off. When I got told the car was “a total loss” I was gutted. I still had 60,000kms to go to my goal. I wasn’t even looking at new cars.
I was a bit perplexed at what to do next. My son had a new Impreza, which was Imprezzive! (← see what I did there). It really is a nice car! My daughter had just purchased The Beast (Ford Everest). A huge car suitable for a growing family and towing caravans, which they do, and I do not.
Enter the Tesla
I’d been looking at these intermittently and from a distance. But way more wishful thinking than with any material intention. I didn’t even test drive one, which anyone can do quite easily, so I didn’t get tempted to buy one.
But then …
… my workplace has novated leasing options. This makes car buying more affordable and, to cut a long story short, the Tesla was the most affordable even when comparing to lower priced cars (including the imprezzive Impreza!). This is due to no requirement for fuel or maintenance costs in the structure of the lease.
So, next week, I take ownership of the base Tesla Model 3 Rear Wheel Drive.
Since putting down the deposit to secure a vehicle, it’s been a great experience with the anticipation, watching videos, regular updates from Tesla and learning more about the car.
Each time I think of picking it up it brings a smile to my face and how the car updates over the air is something to look forward to.
And, like most, if not every male, a car that makes fart noises? Magic! Can’t wait to show my 5-year-old granddaughter!
Will this change my life?
It kind of has already and I haven’t even taken delivery!
- Realising I will never need to go to a fuel station again.
- I can plug it in overnight and have a “full tank” the next day.
- One pedal driving and regenerative braking, something I first learned about in a Joel Arthur Barker video in the early 90s! (Will try and find the link!)
- Every now and then Tesla updates the car over the airwaves. (And yes, I know they sometimes pull things from the software.)
- The frunk (front trunk).
- And, now that I have had a couple of test drives, the sheer driving pleasure (sorry BMW) of an EV.
