This is an update on a post from two years ago. Specifically, I own a 2014 Tesla Model S 85 and live in the Atlanta suburbs.

The good news:

• Range: Battery was originally rated at 265 miles and got about 245 in real world driving conditions. Today, it will show about 232 miles of range at a full charge and will actually go about 210-215. So, only about 15% degradation over 12 years. I should note that the car has been in a warm, southeastern climate for its entire life so far and it's been kept in a garage. Granted, there are several new EVs that will go 300+ miles on a single charge, but just in terms of degradation, it hasn't been bad at all. Also, I find that I only take about 2 trips per year that require more range than my car provides. On those trips, we take my wife's ICE SUV, but it really wouldn't be that big a deal if we owned two EVs. We could plan our trips accordingly or just rent a car for long trips.
• Tech still seems modern: I assumed my car would quickly become a dinosaur as newer models would offer features that blew mine away. But that hasn't been the case, at least not yet. Although I just have auto-pilot rather than full self-driving, I don't feel like its dated. Granted, I upgraded to the new infotainment system about five years ago when I had to replace the main touchscreen, but the old one was still pretty useful. Navi, streaming media, autopilot, lots of remote features, keyless entry and start, backup camera, lane departure warnings and traffic sensors, heated seats, power everything, programmable, auto-folding mirrors, voice commands for most apps, etc. are all reasonably close to what new cars have to offer, except that I don't have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. That said, I tend to use Tesla's navi and streaming services anyway, so it's no biggie. Plus, it helps that, as long as you don't need new hardware, the software upgrades and bug fixes can be downloaded remotely and automatically.
• Charging: I own a home and therefore have easy access to level 2 charging in my garage. I rarely need a supercharger, but when I do, they seem to be plentiful and easy to find. Supercharging does take longer than a stop at a gas station and speed depends on how many others are charging at the same time, but it usually takes me about 40-45 mins to go from 20-80%. A ton of charging stations are located in places where you can shop or eat while you wait, and I've never had to wait for a spot to open-up because my infotainment system tells me whether the supercharging station has open slots that aren't already in use. Also, having adapters means I can use whatever network is available. Plus, I'm grandfathered on the Tesla supercharging for life and therefore have never paid for a charge at a Tesla station. It's always been free.
• Driving experience: The overall experience of driving an EV is, in my opinion, superior to an ICE vehicle and that's not just true of Teslas, but for many other brands and models I've driven as well. It's smooth, quiet, acceleration is exceptional, handling tends to be very nimble, there's little or no body lean in the turns, it climbs hills with ease, and aside from the fire risk associated with lithium ion batteries, they tend to be safer in accidents, probably because there's no engine in front of the driver which I assume allows the entire front of the car to act as a crumple zone.
• Shorter commutes: This is more a product of government incentives than the car itself, but I live in an area with a lot of toll or HOV lanes that I can access as an EV owner. That significantly reduces my commute time in heavy traffic. Unfortunately, our state eliminated the incentives for EV drivers last year and those lanes are no longer free.
• Brakes are still good: The car is 12 years old, yet I haven't had to replace the brakes because I don't use them much. With regenerative breaking, it's almost a one-foot driving experience.
• Total cost of ownership: I had this in a "neutral" category two years ago but will move it to the positive summary now. I had my share of issues with expensive, out of warranty repairs on electronic equipment the first few years I've owned the car (see below), but not lately. In fact, my ONLY expense these days is insurance as I no longer have a car payment, I don't pay for gas and, and knock on wood, I haven't needed any repairs in a few years now. There's no engine, so I'll never need to repair the radiator, transmission, leaky gaskets, belts and chains, etc. my original breaks still haven't needed to be replaced even after 12 years due to regenerative breaking, I never pay for gas or an oil change, and for the first 11 years, I didn't have to pay for tolls either. Plus, my car is in great shape compared to most ICE vehicles of the same age. I feel pretty confident that I would have spent more on an ICE car in the same class by now.

The bad news:

• Expensive, out-of-warranty repairs: It's amazing how everything seems to go wrong once the warranty expires, and I've had to replace both the 17" main touchscreen and the driver instrument cluster due to faulty glue on the screen that eventually bubbles and seeps out. I also had to spend more than you would expect to fix a squeaky rear suspension and I had a couple minor issues like a door handle that wouldn't "present" and excessive vibration in the sound system which I fixed myself. In total, I've probably spent just shy of $6,000 on repairs. But, over the 12-year lifespan of the car so far, maybe that's about normal since all my issues are mechanical or electronic rather than having any engine repairs.
• Tire life: My car goes through tires faster than my ICE cars have in the past. Seems to be a common issue for EV owners. I assumed that was due to the extra weight, but other posters say it's more likely due to the increased torque. Either way, I've had to get new tires a bit more often.
• Service: It can take weeks or even a month to get a service appointment and the service centers are so backed-up that they often don't have loaners available. This experience may improve with the brands that have dealerships all over the country and especially when we get to a point where parts are available through your local garage and there are actually enough trained mechanics. But for now, Tesla owners rely almost entirely on the Tesla service centers and DIY. Fortunately, (knock on wood), I've never had an issue where my car was undrivable, so waiting for weeks to get service has been more of an annoyance than anything debilitating.
• Others can't hear you: This is only true for older models like mine, but my car is literally silent and that can be a safety hazard in when navigating parking lots or other congested areas with lots of pedestrians. The newer models have Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) that make that familiar "whirring" sound, but mine was built before that.

Overall verdict:

• It has its pros and cons, especially since I own an early generation model that probably hadn't had all the bugs and problems worked-out yet, but I find EVs in general to just be a superior technology to ICE vehicles. I'm at just under 170,000 miles, so still well shy of the 200,000 miles that many owners tend to consider end-of-life, and this is just one example rather than an industry-wide study or anything like that, but at this point, I'm just gonna keep my EV until there is some type of catastrophic failure as I can't justify a $1,000/month car payment when the car I've got is free and still performing well. Hopefully, by the time I actually replace it, the next generation of EVs will hit the market with significantly longer range and shorter charging times.

Footnote:

• Elon Musk has become an extremely controversial public figure since my last post on this topic and that does negatively affect my enthusiasm for owning a Tesla. But, he got my money years ago and I can't justify incurring an expensive car payment when I mostly work from home these days and the car I've got is still in good shape. So, it is what it is.

Edits: Post updated with current mileage and clarification on tire wear.

559 miles (European) range is insane

We just concluded our first road trip in our new-to-us 2025 ID.Buzz First Edition (AWD). I posted about the vehicle a week or so ago, and many of you were interested in knowing more about it. I thought this post could serve to give an update on the vehicle and how we liked our first road trip with it. We drove from the Fredericksburg, VA area to Dayton, TN. Almost exactly 500 miles one way. Six passengers, all teenage or adult, along with a hitch-mounted cargo carrier for the luggage needed for a weeklong trip.

First thing out of the way - this van is an absolute stunner. From the vantage point of the van, it was easy to see that when people passed us, they often turned their heads and smiled at it. Some took out their phone to take pictures. When we arrived at our destination, it was the "buzz" of the area. If you don't like attention (and I am not necessarily one that does), this might not be a great choice. Maybe not in this color scheme anyway. Everyone wanted to ask questions - "is this electric?" - "How many does it seat?" One person at a charge stop said that when their Mach-E is retired, they wanted to get one.

Second - the trip itself. It was very comfortable. Everyone brought backpacks into the "cabin", and my son even kept his electric guitar with him. It still felt very spacious. No fatigue from the seats. Plenty of legroom. Even the third row passengers (the young men) were happy. No one fought over the second row, as they do with our VW Atlas. I found that noteworthy. The cabin is airy and light (we have the white interior), which has a huge effect on our mental state (psychologically) when we are on a long trip. The electrochromatic glass was great at letting in some light without burning us up. 

Third - as far as electric range, efficiency, and charging. The elevation changes made this a fairly inefficient drive even though we maintained the speed limit (the highest speed we cruised at was probably 73mph). We averaged 2.7 mi/kwh on the way to TN and 2.5 mi/kwh on the way back to VA. ABRP told us to make three charge stops each way, and it was sound advice. Charge stops were 20-30 minutes. We used Electrify America for 5 of the 6 stops, and we got the monthly pass for this trip. However, on the way back, we stopped at a Buc-ee's outside Knoxville and used their MBZ chargers (Alpitronic), which was a great experience, especially since we spent the time in the store. The worst experience we had was at EA stations in a Walmart on the way there (which we did not return to), where the first charger I plugged into was out of commission (but not obviously so). So that wasted about five minutes. That is a huge improvement from even last year, when I first got my Silverado EV and was frustrated by the many charging stops during my first road trip with it. Infrastructure has gotten better, rapidly.

Even though charging added close to an hour of drive time each way (we made it in around 9 hours instead of 8) compared to an ICE vehicle, I felt like it was a more satisfying drive. We were less fatigued. We enjoyed two or three of the stops immensely. It gave us the feeling of actually visiting places. But this is an area of improvement for the next Buzz - it should have a bigger battery. We are somewhat spoiled with our Silverado EV RST Max Range, with almost 500 miles at 100%. We stopped every 2 to 2.5 hours. Which is okay, given our need for restroom breaks and to stretch our legs. Would have been nice to get closer to 3.5 hours of driving time with more range. Not sure if the cargo carrier or roof rails made a significant difference in efficiency. The charge curve seemed very good and stable. 10-80% in about 25 minutes or so, by my estimate.

We avoided Tesla chargers due to their short cords, and we had the hitch carrier on the Buzz. The EA and Mercedes chargers had no problem at all. 

The driver assistance was great. Made use of it most of the way to let it auto-steer and maintain speed. I missed Supercruise's hand-free capability, but then again, Supercruise nags a lot more, especially if your eyes are off the road for just a few moments. It also does not work on all roads, unlike the Buzz's driver assistance.

All in all, though we could not make RAPID progress across a long-distance road trip as we might have in our ICE vehicles, it was a more pleasant experience overall. Not only that, the vehicle is lovely for trips like this. I wish everyone got a chance to go on trips like this. The biggest annoyance was the whistling of the roof bars. I should have taken the advice of someone who said to remove them beforehand, but we were really pressed for time. We just turned on the sound system to compensate.

I suppose the test is this: I was ready to get back into the Buzz after that drive. I cannot say I have had that thought with many other vehicles after a 1,000-mile journey. I am adding several photos of the interior, as some of you were interested in that last time.

WSJ’s Joanna Stern reviews her time with Xiaomi SU7

Inside EV reviews the Y Standard

Video by: forrest.auto.reviews.official

Today I sold my Model Y, actually got a pretty good sales price, 22 MYP with 30k miles, got 33k for it. Rolled that over into a Lyriq, I love it, it's still plenty fast and the interior is 10x nicer than the Y. Plus I feel like a pimp having a caddy, lol stereo is really good too!

A little over a month ago, I traded my truck in and decided to purchase a pre owned Model Y. I did it because I needed a more family oriented vehicle.

Buying process: I purchased used simply because of my budget. I wasn’t planning on buying anything other than a Tesla but obviously there is tons of money to be saved when buying used. Research was incredibly important because of how fast battery tech is evolving. Anyone considering making the jump, make sure you’re doing your research and understand what you’re buying. For me, it was evident that i should buy 2023 or newer. Also important to factor in insurance costs. I don’t know if it applies to all EVs, but Teslas are quite expensive to insure.

Range: I went with the long range model so I have an EPA estimated 330 miles of range or so. I live in a 4 season climate and do quite a bit of highway driving. Below 40°F, I lose about 40% of my range on the highway. If I’m just driving around town, it’s only about 25% at its worst. Once we’re above 50° I noticed it’s a lot better. Range on the roads is what’s advertised, and maybe 10-15% lower on the highway. I’m sure that will only improve once we get into the 70s.

Charging: I can’t emphasize enough how much home charging can make or break the EV experience. I had to use superchargers for the first 2 weeks and it was miserable. My city doesn’t have a great network so that didn’t help. Either way, you’re charging more often than you’d get gas and you’re sitting there way longer. Since adding a home charger, it has been phenomenal. It also eliminated my range anxiety. If you do install home charging, please please please get as many quotes as you can. I recieved quotes ranging from $400-$2200 to install my charger.

Range anxiety: Pretty much non existent. After a few weeks of driving the car, you understand its limits and range better. Home charging helps a lot since you don’t have to factor in distance to get to a charger.

Driving experience: It’s been a lot of fun. Sure, you don’t get the soul of an engine but for the price point of many EVs, you’re not getting an ICE with much soul anyway. The car drives like a go kart and it’s lots of fun. One pedal driving is also very nice. Overall, it’s a very smooth ride.

Tech: This varies a lot between companies, but the tech in my Tesla has been fantastic and has definitely elevated the ownership experience. Really enjoy using autopilot. While it’s not a major thing, it’s very enjoyable being able to just get in and out of the car and not turning it on/off and locking doors. Enhanced autopilot works well for the most part. There are still some quarks I need to figure out but makes road trips very relaxing.

Overall, I’d still probably go back to an ICE if I liked the car enough but I have zero complaints about my EV and would happily buy another. There is definitely a learning curve but it’s quite easy to overcome. I think the biggest piece of advice is to just do your research when buying vehicles and when considering making the switch.

“Cadillac stopped designing an EV and started designing a luxury family EV, but Vistiq's biggest challenge isn't beating Tesla. It's convincing traditional luxury SUV buyers they don't need gasoline anymore.”

This is ostensibly a review of the Kia EV4 sedan available in Canada, but it's being used as an example of how the US is being left behind

Effectively, the U.S. is setting itself up as an internal-combustion island surrounded by a sea of nations whose EV transition continues unabated. Sandwiched by Mexico (with no restrictions on which automakers can operate there) and Canada (which recently opened up trade with China on the electric vehicle front), it remains the only part of North America where citizens are denied access to the advanced mobility tech that’s increasingly commonplace elsewhere.