Leased A Tesla

Around Town Car

(not my car above, but it looks very similar)

We left our pickup truck in heated storage back in Minnesota. Love the pickup in Minnesota, don’t like it in Las Vegas. We have had a Porsche Cayenne Diesel that we have had for several years now and we love it. Have driven it all over the country.

We needed an in-town car in Las Vegas. We put Tesla solar on our house this year. I thank the American taxpayer for the transfer of wealth via subsidies. We leased a long-range Tesla Model 3, and it was no wait to get it. I have a neighbor here in Vegas who had to wait months to get his Model Y. It’s Space Gray with a white interior and 18 inch wheels. We didn’t buy the self-driving option for $8000, but you can lease it for $100/month if you want it.

We had put a lot of thought into this and talked about it for a few years. If I really wanted to spend some dough, the car I desired to get was a Porsche 911. I have loved those cars since high school. My uncle had a 1972 Green Targa. Sweet car. I never bought one when I was trading and opted for big BMW 7 series sedans. I could put the seat back and I could sit behind myself.

There are plenty of people who read this blog who are vehemently against EVs. I get it. I don’t disagree with their arguments. I hate the EV subsidies. They are a transfer of wealth from the people who don’t utilize the subsidies to the people who take advantage of them. But, they exist. Range anxiety is a real fear. I hate the mandates from the government on EVs. I hate top down decision making from auto companies that try and force a product on the public that they don’t want. I hate the crooked regulations that change the way the market competes. I think the global warming lobby is using absolutely corrupted data to make their case for EVs. My diesel might be greener all-in when you look at the initial costs to manufacture, use, and dispose of everything.

I have another friend who works for Tesla. A lot of folks think Elon is cooking the books but I doubt seriously if my friend would stay employed by them if they were. He is an accountant. Although I know a pretty smart guy that trades who thinks Elon is cooking them and if you read Craig Pirrong’s blog, you know how many of his businesses are rent-seeking.

Currently, Tesla passes along the tax credit they receive from the government to your lease. I am not sure how long that will keep going and the subsidy ends in December. No idea if Harris/Walz or Trump/Vance will continue them. I assume that there is a better chance of Trump continuing them since Elon’s backing him for President. It would be ironic if the “global warming” people in a potential (God forbid) Harris administration ended EV subsidies when they used to trumpet them as a solution to global warming. Even if they aren’t.

I have thought a lot about EVs over the years. For an over-the-road car, I wouldn’t ever have one. Love diesel for that. Pulling a trailer through the mountains of Colorado in my diesel Cayenne, I got 24 MPG. Prior to that car, we had a diesel BMW X5 and it was a great car until the end. I never had a diesel car until 2006 when my family and I took a trip to Europe. We rented a Mercedes diesel station wagon to tool around Italy and it was a great car. Unbelievable MPG. A friend of mine who lives in Germany has an X3 diesel and absolutely loves it.

Diesels were the rage but now it’s hard to find a new one. My good friend who runs a Porsche dealer in Chicago says someone comes in every week looking for one.

For an around-town car and given that I can charge for free, an EV is a good option. I have several friends who have had Teslas for a long time now. They love them and I know it’s a cult like love. But, they do. One friend of mine in northern California got the first generation Model S and then bought another. He has loved it from day one. Another friend of mine in California will never drive anything else. Another from Illinois loves them so much, he has a couple of them.

I have no illusions that somehow I am a better person and doing something for the environment or helping to solve global warming. I am not. Global warming isn’t a real problem anyway if you understand statistics. Robert Bryce has a great blog on energy. I don’t subscribe but got a lot out of the free version.

The one nice thing about EVs in a valley like Las Vegas is there is not as much exhaust pollution. This is something I never experienced much in Chicago since the wind would blow everything away. In mountainous regions, pollution can hang in valleys. They are also quieter which helps with noise pollution.

However, when you drive it, the interior isn’t quiet like a premium luxury car. The car is heavy, so there is more road noise from the tires.

The technology in it is pretty impressive. Given I have a 2015 and 2018 car, tech has made some big leaps forward. But, Tesla mostly led the way. The one thing I hate about car tech is it is not intuitive. It’s often cumbersome. I am hoping that one day someone integrates AI into car tech and you can just tell the car what you want and it does it.

When you leave for months at a time, it’s easier to leave a Tesla than a comparable gasoline car. Tesla even has figured out how to make the tires not get wonky when the car is left for a while. If you have ever left a traditional auto for a long period of time, you know that feeling you get when you start driving it again.

When you shop for EVs, there simply isn’t much that matches up with Tesla when it comes to range, and price. Sure, Porsche’s EV is awesome, but expensive. I also don’t fit in it well which is always an issue when I get a car.

If you live in a place like Florida, EVs can be dangerous. Saltwater coming into your garage from a storm surge can cause a fire. But, golf carts are just as dangerous in that situation.

For sure, if the world was coming to an end, I wouldn’t drive an EV. I’d pick a diesel. Yes, the totalitarian authorities might be able to track you more easily and might even be able to remotely turn off your car or make it so you couldn’t charge it. I am not fatalistic like that so I don’t worry about it.

I thought about getting a small gasoline car, but I didn’t want the maintenance. Ironically, my truck in Minnesota has a slow oil leak and I have to get it fixed. Fossil fuel-powered cars require maintenance schedules and EVs are very basic when it comes to maintenance.

With the seats folded down in this one, you can get a lot of stuff in there. I could see using it for a short trip where you knew a supercharger was on the other end. But, for us, it will be an in-town car.

I am not worried about battery degradation, though my friends who own Teslas say it hasn’t been as bad as advertised. Since I am leasing, who cares? Given battery degradation, I think leasing is the way to go with an EV. At this stage of my life, my guy Brian says it is a much more efficient use of capital anyway.

It is funny when you speak with the salesperson. They are super low-pressure but do stress it’s not a car, it’s a computer.

Tesla has their own insurance and we are using that. We pick it up Monday.