Is a Tesla Model Y right for me?

[Cata]

I currently have a Jeep Wrangler coming up on the end of its lease. I have owned a variety of cars, 3 different Subaru WRX, BMW 335xi, 328i, Ford Ranger.

I am thinking it’s time to go electric. More and more superchargers and other electric vehicle chargers are being installed in more places.

I live in Maine, and I do not have a garage (yet). My concerns are:
Parking it outside in the winter.
Winter range.
Closest service center is in Boston.

I know others in Maine do it, I see model 3’s, X’s and Y’s everywhere.

 

[exxxviii]

To me, the biggest consideration is if you can install a charger at your home. Any EV is challenging if you do not have ready access to a charger at home or at work. Without that convenience, you have to incorporate regular charging stop in your weekly routines, and that can be annoying.

I would not sweat distance to a service center. These things require little care other than tires. If you have the ability to charge daily, then winder weather and winter range are a nothing burger. Winter range would likely be more of an issue during a longer drive, but that is easy to adapt around.

 

[tashtibet]

Jeep 2 Model Y = Polar opposite-the money saved make sure you buy T$LA

 

[Pianewman]

To me, the biggest consideration is if you can install a charger at your home. Any EV is challenging if you do not have ready access to a charger at home or at work. Without that convenience, you have to incorporate regular charging stop in your weekly routines, and that can be annoying.

I would not sweat distance to a service center. These things require little care other than tires. If you have the ability to charge daily, then winder weather and winter range are a nothing burger. Winter range would likely be more of an issue during a longer drive, but that is easy to adapt around.

I'm not if I agree with this. Tesla QC has improved, but there are still too many threads about issues that would make ME concerned about living too far from a SC. (Ditto for most ICE cars, as well!)

 

[exxxviii]

I'm not if I agree with this. Tesla QC has improved, but there are still too many threads about issues that would make ME concerned about living too far from a SC. (Ditto for most ICE cars, as well!)

In seeing the accounts, my take is that they tend to be binary... It appears that Tesla is crowdsourcing final QC. By that, I mean they appear to be a little lax on perfection and fix everything the owners find on delivery. By contrast, the legacy automakers either do a better job at the factory or the dealers handle it before a customer ever sees a car. This is binary (lots of people see no issues) and those that do mostly get them resolved once and for all at SC. Not many stretch beyond the initial pick-up. Then, there are a small number of cars with issues that require post-pick-up service center visits. There do not appear to be many, but they are rough. That is the risk of buying a car far from an SC, but the probability is low.

 

[davidski]

Personally, if the service center was that far away, I wouldn’t. If you have any trouble that needs their help, you’ll regret the inconvenience. I love my Tesla, but I have 2 service centers not far away.

 

[UncleMatt]

Personally, if the service center was that far away, I wouldn’t. If you have any trouble that needs their help, you’ll regret the inconvenience. I love my Tesla, but I have 2 service centers not far away.

I live in Maine and bought a model Y two years ago. Never did a test drive. Just had it delivered to my house from NJ.

Not a single service problem has come up. I will have to buy tires eventually, but there is no routine service.

Very happy with this car. In the last week, This week, I have had a sibling a niece and and a nephew put in orders for a Model Y. Very happy to have helped them along with that decision.

Would agree with the other comment about a home charger. It's probably not viable without a home charger. Or perhaps a charger at your workplace.

Good luck and happy hunting.

I would have no issue buying a used model Y. If you can find one. But the new pricing at the Tesla website seems quite favorable.

 

[Konicom04]

I too will chime in and confirm what others stated.
An EV for daily use is "only" as good as your ability to charge overnight or at work.
Sure - The supercharger network is excellent, but it is not what makes EVs great

Imagine, if you had to stop at a shopping mall to charge your phone because you had no ability to charge it at home while you sleep.

 

[Watts_Up]

I too will chime in and confirm what others stated.
An EV for daily use is "only" as good as your ability to charge overnight or at work.
Sure - The supercharger network is excellent, but it is not what makes EVs great

Imagine, if you had to stop at a shopping mall to charge your phone because you had no ability to charge it at home while you sleep.

But it depend of your daily usage.

Typically ICE car users stop at a gas station once a week.
So using a Public L2 charger once a week is not so bad.

 

[Konicom04]

But it depend of your daily usage.

Typically ICE car users stop at a gas station once a week.
So using a Public L2 charger once a week is not so bad.

Typical ICE car will easily get 300 miles and have sufficient buffer left, plus abundance of gas stations everywhere.
Model Y's practical range is well below 200 miles, so to avoid range anxiety, one has to stop twice, three times a week to "top it off"

Of course it all depends on the amount of driving, but for the sake of argument lets use a typical 50 mile daily commute,

 

[EY2K]

Due to overall lack of charging infrastructure (even though SuperChargers are a plenty), at this time, I think an EV only makes sense if you can charge at home. Otherwise, depending on Supercharging or 3rd party charging infrastructure won't allow you to reap the full cost benefits of owning an EV.

Also, 1 month in of ownership, there is no way that MYP gets anywhere near 303 mi of quoted range. I'd say realistically it's closer to 250 (and absolutely dependent upon driving conditions and your right foot).