Tesla Model 3 - £££ Total Cost of Ownership (4 Years)

[@jezebabe]

Very interesting video, thanks! I notice you often say that you always sell your cars privately. This is something I usually avoid as it's so convenient to p/x, but I would be interested in a video by you on "how to sell your car privately" or something like that, covering all aspects (positive and negative) . Cheers 👍🏻

[@DavidWilliams-nb5up]

Remember, part of the depreciation is the VAT lost instantly you drive away from the dealer… a big chunk of the figure. Obviously it applies to all vehicles and is a genuine cost of ownership.

[@edc1569]

It's a little academic, when I'm buying a car secondhand or nearly new i'm always considering the with VAT price, part of what I'm buying is that VAT. Just like if you buy an iPad off ebay you never value it against the exVAT price.

[@tiloalo]

Not really, as the resell price is based on the new price including vat. And the new buyer won't need to pay it again

[@johniooi3954]

Interesting on Fuel. I run a Niro EV, previously a Niro HEV. Still doing same miles a month. After 7 months of EV ownership, I still have not spent as much on home charging as it cost me for one month of petrol. A guess is it will take another 3 months to be around the same cost.

[@justsomeguy934]

I'm over here across the pond and I wait for your videos to come out! Please keep making them!

[@1bongofury]

Really interesting, thank you for the breakdown. Including insurance it works out for you to be about £600 a month. I have my 2022 Model 3 RWD on a salary sacrifice 4 year lease with an annual mileage of 20000 that includes insurance, maintenance and tyres. i am in the higher tax bracket so save around 40% in income tax on the main fee which works out as about £520 a month, I looked at March's data on EEVEE app and its cost me £3.15 to travel 1926 miles, however I get free charging at work, travel 100 miles a day and got a free home charger installed through Octopus so pay 7.5p per KWH for smart charging from home overnight. I occasionally use the Supercharger network on long trips but this would average about £5 a month over a year. So i reckon i spend around £540 a month on the lease. Plus washer fluid!

[@tiloalo]

Did you ever gave back a car out of leasing? The surprise usually happen at the end where you get charge for any scratch / issue with the car. And you should also factor in the loss in retirement

[@raffiefoxmew3691]

The shock horror tactics used by EV skeptics never fails to amuse me. They act like the same just doesn't happen with a traditional ICE car...when it absolutely does. Depreciation on most brand new cars is savage for the first few years and then tapers off. I'm so so happy with my Model 3, I won't sell it likely I'll keep it til it's done.

[@CallOfBrians]

When you're paying almost £40k for a car the cost of the inital purchase is going to massively offset any benefits you'll get from the fuel savings. If you bought a second hand skoda for £2k and it cost £2k per year for fuel ( that's way above average ) you'd have to run it for about 20 years doing 12-15k per year to run the fuel costs up to £40k But by the time you'd run it for 20 years you'd still be paying almost £2k per year for electric to charge the car which would be another £40k Ev's are cheaper to run ( if charged at home that is ) but the inital purchase is far too great. before ya'll come at me I've had electric cars they are great but they are not cheaper by any means

[@marria01]

@@CallOfBrians did you watch the bit of the video where he pointed out that this kind of argument is completely moot because he didn't want to drive an old car? Why do people think that anyone in the market for a ~£40k EV would honestly be considering a banger as an alternative purchase. Why not compare an equivalently priced new/nearly new ICE car and see how the running costs compare then?

[@CallOfBrians]

@@marria01 if someone can genuinely afford to drop £40k on a car ( this guy couldn’t so he had to get it on finance ) then running costs probably isn’t going to on the forefront of said persons mind. So the argument is irrelevant. Dealerships won’t even take back ev’s at this point, the infrastructure in England isn’t there.

[@marria01]

@@CallOfBrians you also missed the part where he said he actually paid it off early. You really should watch the videos before commenting as stuff like this just makes you look like an idiot. Just because someone can afford to buy (or finance) a £40k car doesn't mean they're not also looking at how much it costs to run. That's just being fiscally responsible, and most likely the reason why they're in the financial position to get a car like that in the first place. Not everyone has to make do with a £2k fifth-hand Skoda. However, people who buy £150k+ sports cars with cash most likely don't worry about running costs as much. But that's a whole different league. As for your other points... you don't watch the MacMaster and Geoff Buys Cars perchance? Sorry to burst your bubble, but I was offered a very decent px price for my 3 year old Model 3 at the BMW dealers against a new i4 M50 recently, and I also did a 600 mile trip in January, from the north of England to Birmingham + London and back in a Polestar 2 as I was interested to see how it would perform against my car. Turns out it was a doddle to charge with an Electroverse card. Two charging stops (including one overnight at my hotel) then I charged it at home before returning it the following day. Had I done it in the Tesla, it would've been even easier.

[@CallOfBrians]

@@marria01 "fiscally responsible" while driving around in a financed rapidly depreciation that's lost 50% of it's value in 4 years. you left wing ev guys are insane, trying to justify loosing £20k in 4 years is crazy... so if he buys another 4 evs in his life time hes going to be at a 6 figure loss just off cars

[@barryhaeger4284]

Nice one especially as I've the same mode as you have and about 4 months older than yours which I bought as a low-mileage used car from Tesla exactly a year ago this week. Delighted with the car and the running costs to date although it has to be said depreciation is the highest cost element principle because everything else is so negligibly inexpensive. As you say most journies are out and back from home with low-cost charging and therefore only occasionally topping up on Tesla Superchargers at well below the average for non-Tesla Rapid-Chargers. In fact, because I drive a Tesla I can be on the Intelligent-Octopus tariff and therefore I also get the benefit of lower overnight rates for not only EV Charging but also Home Battery, Hotwater, Heat-Pump, Washing-machine and Dishwasher etc for 6 hours a night and Home Battery can in all but really cold weather run the rest of the home including heating until bedtime. Time shifting 90% of my grid consumption to the lower off-peak which wouldn't have been available to me without the EV and saving me a sizable wedge.

[@davidevans7325]

Not many mile, there are plenty with 300,000+ miles. You should keep it to reduce your depreciation figure. Battery degradation at 300.000 miles is 10% or less.

[@bigfist255]

Paid 1k for my petrol car 2.0 turbo saab had it 5 years spent about 1k on servicing in yhat time including new tyre's its currently worth 2k ,thats free motoring and no range anxieties.

[@Oppledom]

Tax, fuel, insurance? Also inflation doesnt buy what it did so need to factor that in. But yeah solid low cost reliable cars can be pretty great value

[@jeffg9706]

I used to buy cars for a £1000 back in the 1980s and believe me they weren't up to much back then, However having to drive on a low budget due to financial limitations is something I understand so good luck to you and I hope it serves you well.

[@bigfist255]

I used to buy cars for £90 to £150 in the 80s but newer engines can go on for 200k plus unlike the old engines that were past it at 100k

[@Coyote.five.0]

​@@bigfist255cool buddy do you want a medal 🥇? i mean its amazing what you just said but apart from that, hes explaining his ev cost of ownership, i get it based on your answer an ev it's not for you, and like you there's a lot of people that dont need and dont like ev's and thats perfectly 1000% fine in my book, one friendly and respectful advice your free to do whatever you want hehe , try and test drive a tesla not just any ev man the rest are trash 🗑️ or sh** apart from the tycan and the lucid but i digress, test drive a tesla , the when you find one that you like , buy it used with low miles and preferably 2020+ year and you will be golden for the next 10 , 15 , 20 years buddy trust me , trust i know im a nobody on a youtube video comment section user but trust me , dont buy a cheap one with 180k miles model s dont do that go for one that still has a warranty if you are really really scared of what people tell you or you see on the Internet but you wont need it , basic warranty is a beauty but the motor and batteries are the best on the market for a long long long shot, if you want performance dont buy the lfp battery chemistry, if you want economy and battery longevity buy the lfp

[@bigfist255]

@Coyote.five.0 yes that's the only ev I would entertain, and who knows ,I'm not against technology,but im quite happy atm with my petrol car.

[@0-Will-0]

Nicely done EVM. As well as your point about long trips having a portion of home charging. It's worth pointing out to those new to EVs that you might only need to put in a minimal charge just to get home again. Vs when you are out in an ICE car and fuel costs the same everywhere so you just constantly put a lot in.

[@C.W.]

Nice shout out to the Renegade Master. Another good vid

[@gregrobinson1564]

Thanks for the heads up on VED/Car tax. I hadn't realised it applied to all electric cars registered after 2017. I thought it was just those registered after Apr 2025. I'm looking at buying an electric van and that's a big jump in tax, £0/yr to £330/yr.

[@mrpauly01]

I'm no expert but I beleive that all vehicles that are over £40k (manufactures recommended price list) will attract the luxury car tax on top of the standard £190 everyone will have to pay from April 2015. If you can buy a van under £40k then that will keep the VED down to £190 pa.

[@robsengahay5614]

We bought our SR+ in October 2019 in Brisbane. We have roughly the same mileage as you (90,000kms). Also only had one “service” but have changed the cabin filters annually (it is very humid here in summer so necessary) but we have only bought 4 tyres so far. The tread on our 2 rear tyres indicate that we will definitely be buying two more in the next few months. Is that the state of UK roads or driving style I wonder. Still have the original wiper blades but because we don’t need anti freeze in the windscreen washer I suspect the wiper blades here last much better here (I am from the UK and I had to change wiper blades regularly there)

[@andy9841]

So can someone explain to me why my friends 2011 Bluemotion Golf (the one with the emissions scandal) is only £20 a year to tax but my 2021 Model 3 is going to be £180? I thought any new tax changes only affected cars registered the year the taxes changed and you dont retrospectively charge more for cars you bought in good faith

[@Knott1701]

Interesting, Thanks. Re the depreciation, i'm planning to keep mine as long as possible so I'm less worried, although given what I've learnt and the improvements in infrastructure etc, I'd probably have gone for 2nd hand instead of new, then again at the time (2 years ago) the 2nd hand price was higher than new at the time...

[@tiloalo]

Avoid going out of warranty with a Tesla, they still suffer some issues with electronics or media systems that can quickly cost a small fortune. And a motor or battery would cost half the value of the car.

[@owenwilson4269]

Great vid. Did you include the cost of installing a home charger?

[@simonreeves2017]

Hi EVM, love the work you do on this channel. The way to offset depreciation is to keep vehicles for longer, depreciation is an inverse exponential curve, i.e. you loose the most in the early years. I just watched a video from The Electric Viking looking at high mileage Model 3’s, there are many examples that have done circa 300k miles on the original battery pack and drive train. So it would be interesting to see these numbers based on 8 years and 120k miles. Our collective mindset on high mileage being bad is based on the experience of running ICE cars, but all the things that make high mileage ICE cars a pain to own simply do not exist on an EV, even the much feared battery degradation is not the problem we thought it would be. You got through a lot of rear tyres, which suggests to me you enjoy using the performance of the M3, tyre wear = driving style. 😜🤣😜

[@bigfist255]

Rubish my friends 15 reg 1.5 diesel logan has 400k on it and still being used as a cab ,no range worry does 60mpg .

[@simonreeves2017]

@@bigfist255 Wow, that is very impressive, 400k miles from the Renault 1.5 diesel is very impressive (Dacia uses Renault parts). I’ve only worked on one of these engines, is was in a Nissan CashCow, at 130k miles it was leaking a lot of oil and had some rod knock.

[@mjwndave]

Great video! I did exactly the same the other week for my Long Range comparing it to my brothers Kia Ce'ed and I frightened him to death on how cheap it is for fuel! As you can imagine he's now looking at electric alternatives

[@MaxJames597yompfitness]

are you retarded these statistics are horrific - imagine hes looking for a small petrol car

[@TheAegisClaw]

Thinking of buying a M3LR from 2021 or 2022. Seems like £24k will get you one with less than 40k on, some remaining warranty and the biggest depreciation has already happened. Currently leased EV6 will end up costing me closer to 28k to buy at the end of the lease and is slower with a shorter range.

[@jeremyperl]

I hust bought a 3 lr with 24 k miles for slightly more but i agree with you that most of depreciation will have happened which means v cheap motoring per year

[@philth7587]

I'm currently considering the same equation. Model 3 S £6k pa salary sacrifice, Model 3 LR £7.7k pa, both at 40% rate. The LR net cost of 4* 7.7k = 31k, not far off a used 2022 LR for 26k plus 4 years of insurance. How much the 2022 LR would be worth in 4 years is the key question. 8k conservatively? Balancing that is higher risk of an out of warranty car and the Highland improvements

[@mrpauly01]

Informative, thanks. I'm about to buy a used Tesla 3 RWD+ 2021 with 11500 on the clock. It was a toss up between that and a new one as that would have been on an interest free PCP contract and with approx £8k deposit the monthly payments over 2 years is around £200pm compared to £160 pm (same deposit for a £26k used model, however the used one has had its depreciation already. I think the home charger is the best way to go but that requires a £700 spend which is equivalant to 2 years petrol for my milage so it made me think how else I could charge and I'm going for the less attractive but equally efficient external waterproof commando socket and car adaptor - total cost including install is £120 and I still get the 7p per kw via Octopus (11:00-05:00)...

[@robsmith1a]

I'd shop around for insurance (I know you will of course). My renewal quote was 50% more than last year but shopping around meant I ended up paying less than last year.

[@vandamonium1731]

you got a new customer qoute to get business as your old company didnt want the responsibility of your vehicle ... they all do it .... i have used the same insurer now for the last 6 years on my old diesel car and it went up £11 this year from £261 to £272 fully comp

[@fsclips]

Very interesting and thank you for the video. I own a Model 3 Highland. I have had it now for 4 months and driven 8000km. I am very lucky in that I get to charge my car with solar for zero cost, so so far I haven´t had to pay any money towards the running cost of my car. Where we live there are no used Teslas available and even the Tesla inventory is empty, so used Teslas, when they pop up go for a lot of money. We are planning to keep ours for 5 years or so and then we will see. So far we are very happy with it and love the drive.

[@martinclark9636]

Intrigued to know what country you are?

[@fsclips]

@@martinclark9636 We live in Mallorca, Spain. I guess a small island in the Mediterranean has its own economics when it comes to cars.

[@andrewnicholls5082]

As you said insurance is variable but just as an example my insurance is around £600 a year for a Cupra Born. Best quote I got for a Tesla M3 ~£1200

[@stuartburns8657]

Had a similar conversation with a young(ish) lad of 28 at work. He's traded in his performance ice and got a M3 STD. Really pleased at the fuel savings (his previous was on the modest end of mpg) but when I asked about insurance, it had gone up from £368 to £972 As ever, do your own personal man math and research.

[@sargfowler9603]

Same here. I got quotes of £1000 when I'm currently paying £350 for a Leon FR. It negates any savings on fuel.

[@stuartburns8657]

@@sargfowler9603 That's the reality the 1st wave zealots keep quiet on, but to be fair its a relatively recent development.

[@MrAdopado]

It depends on so many factors ... My SR+ cost £397 at renewal ...

[@stuartburns8657]

@@MrAdopado from what the previous year?

[@rusty911s2]

Interestingly, having got used to my little battery-based fleet (Outlander Phev, Peugeot Ion and i3) today I thought I'd give my Mum's 2011 V70 D5 Auto a long pre-mot run. Previously I'd always regarded it as a lovely car to bash off 300 miles in one go. O.M. .. G! It's been like stepping back into the dark ages: no regen, no low down grunt out of the roundabouts, noise and vibrations (and this is a really nice, tight example). For the final insult my hands now smell of diesel, the pump was filthy and I had to queue to pay actual money for the experience. Great work as ever: very interesting and as you say, any £40k new car is going to cost more than buttons over four years, but I bet a lot of people spend £2-300 a month just on fuel and servicing alone.

[@vandamonium1731]

so basically if you expect computer to do the work for you then you forgot how to drive! my fuel bill a month for my hybrid is £52 and that gets me 550 miles which roughly works out to be around 10p a mile and i have just put on my second pair of front tyres from new at 46k (continental contact6 £110 each) the rears are still from factory and on 4mm ... the thing is if you spend DOUBLE on a car to save money on fuel it doesnt add up even with home charging ... i bet the running costs of my 5 year old hybrid with warranty are less that what most pay a month on lease/PCP bank loan to get an EV also my last service from the dealers was £239 and that extends the warranty another year so who is it that services their car EVERY month?

[@marria01]

It's amazing how quickly you get used to the low end torque in an EV. I had a V70 D5 years ago, and while it wasn't slow. I don't think I could really go back to running one. Especially when filling it up would most likely cost nearly £100 a time now and despite being a diesel, the fuel economy was never great. One of my regular household chores is taking the wife's car to Costco to fill up. It's funny to think that just one trip to the filling station takes me more time and costs more money than months of charging on the driveway.

[@vandamonium1731]

@@marria01 it's ok having all that torque but it comes at a price

[@stephenclutton]

Good video! Most striking thing for me was the cost of tyres being more than the fuel cost. It's kind of obvious when you think about it but to have it there in black and white 😮

[@sargfowler9603]

Here too. I've learnt online that tyres wear out very quickly on an EV. £80 seems a decent price though.

[@jeremydavies4620]

Worth noting with regard to depreciation that a brand new model 3 is barely more than yours was 4 years ago. This is not the case with most cars or indeed anything else. This means the ‘price to change’ to a new model of the same car is a lot less than the BMW for example.

[@andymccabe6712]

Not really an advert for buying a new EV ...is it.. ...as manufacturers have randomly reduced the price they sell a given car at.....and, could well do it again......!!

[@Fanaleds-software]

​@@andymccabe6712several manufacturers do this.

[@duncanmartin2626]

How long is the Tesla warranty? Will you be paying for an extended warranty if you keep it beyond that number? I've done 6 years and 60k in my Zoe. Servicing is around £200 a year, extended warranty after the 4 years were up is another 300 a year. Tyres last longer than yours and are a lot cheaper, and with a purchase price of around 17k, and a current value of 5k(?) that's 12k in depreciation. Fuel probably cost us more as we didn't have a smart meter for a while, so didn't get the overnight cheapness (but then, solar helps offset that).

[@MrDAVIDATKIN]

Depreciation is always heavy over the first 3 years in particular on any car not just an EV. I've had several ICE cars from new in my lifetime and 50% depreciation was the norm for 3 years of ownership and average mileage. The worse time to sell is at that point, hang on to the 6 -7 year point and then sell, it will not lose a massive amount more over the next few years. Comfort yourself by the fact that at least its not a Jaguar IPace, owning one of them would be serious damage to your finances.

[@ElectricCarAustralia]

Nice one. Doing calcs on our MG ZS EV soon after 4 years.

[@vandamonium1731]

dont forget to add 20% extra for electricity transmission line losses whilst charging

[@Flying-Tampon]

Sorry no insurance cost reflected! Nor roadside assistance. Coming up a bit short. Ooops.

[@Glentp75]

Thanks for giving a clear gude to costings. WIth deprecaition which of course affectes all cars, being your biggest loss, there has has never been a better time to buy a used Tesla. You can but a used 202 Model 3 SR with less than 50k miles for under 18K

[@mickwreay3034]

How many miles are you getting per tyre roughly?

[@StevenSanger-ks8kp]

That's interesting to see the costs as I have been toying with going electric, but yet to find the right car/ range in the price I want

[@enyaq_gorm]

On depreciation timing is everything. I had a march 2020 SR+ which I sold in may 2021 as it was a complete lemon. It had dropped £6k in that first year. On servicing tesla actually recommend a brake service every 12 months in countries where the roads are treated with salt in the winter. Cleevely have plenty videos showing brake calipers in terrible condition because tesla owners swallow the hype that they're driving a car with no servicing required 😢😢😢

[@Richard_Barnes]

My S3 has cost me £20,854 for 95,161 miles of fuel 😉 Sadder than that is the fact I have every fill up on an Excel sheet and I've owned it for the whole 13 years it's been registered, 😆Insurance has been £5,400 total; servicing is frightening and some massive bills in there for brake sets, a timing belt and water pump and tyres and all of that. I can estimate my car has cost me £56,500 in 13 years inc's depreciation of £23,000. 👍🏻 EDIT: I forgot the £3,500 in road tax so has now been added to the totals.

[@Manoharan]

2:40 didn’t they remove it now? I don’t think electric vehicles owners have to pay them from next year.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

They do.

[@Manoharan]

@@ElectricVehicleManin this case, doesn’t it destroys the whole purpose of pushing everyone to electric? Bcz if electric and ice cars gonna be charged at the same rate then why anyone would go for electric especially in the second hand market under £10k.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

@ I think ICE is getting up.

[@Manoharan]

@@ElectricVehicleMan depends on the car. I am looking to change my car next year. Budget is around £15k. My choices are 2017 Ford focus (£20 tax) and 2022 Tesla Model 3. The only reason I chose Tesla is that its cheaper fuel wise and If I drive for next 5 years then costs are almost similar with focus. But bcz of this tax, I am thinking of getting even a 2020 focus and save more compared to Tesla. I know both are not the same and Tesla is fun to drive but just thinking from a common consumer point of view.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

@@Manoharan On a time of day tariff, the Tesla is massively cheaper. And twice the performance so isn’t really comparable.

[@alibro7512]

Kinda makes me glad I run old cars all the time. My daily is a 2012 C Class diesel estate which I bought for well under £10k in 2018, have driven 70k miles in and is now worth around £1500. (My fun car is a 2004 Freelander I converted to electric 😊) OK I've spent a around £3k on servicing and repairs but still the depreciation over 6 years has been around £5k or £6k over those 6 years. Add the servicing and we're still under £10k for 6 years. Yes total cost of ownership will be much higher with fuel tyres and tax included but nothing like the cost of new cars. Speaking of tyres, is 4 sets of rears over 60k miles a lot?

[@djwarren5081]

Having owned more than four cars in the last four years, including a new 5.0 Mustang and a new S3, I've probably lost more than that each year in depreciation alone. I'm surprised that the brake fluid hasn't been changed. Safety critical stuff. Thanks for posting.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

Tested, not changed.

[@usefulrandom1855]

Tesla say to test every 2 years for water content. I have a 2020 tested perfect. To be fair I had an Alfa GT for 10 years prior, never changed the fluid!

[@elainebradley8213]

Remember brakes last a lot longer due to regenerative braking.

[@MrAdopado]

The brakes have an easy life ... unless the brake fluid is contaminated with water (and there's really no reason to expect it) it will be fine. This isn't a track car!

[@applicationsbroad7283]

Unfortunately there is one common and very big misrepresentation here. Consumption has been based on the reported wh/m of 250 (4 miles per kwh). That figure is great for working out the range of an EV but is no good for working out the cost. I have two EV's I am not a hater and in my experience if you connected an energy monitor to your charger and compared the total Energy passing through the charger to what the car uses in wh/m you will see a disparity of 25-30%. charging with a 7kw charger you will see a charging loss of 10% for starters (15% with a UMC) then there is sentry mode, preheat, sitting in the car waiting for someone with the heater on etc. A Tesla uses 250w of power when it is awake or 1kwh every 4 hours just sitting on the drive . After you get out it stays awake for up to 20 minutes even if sentry is on. That adds up over time. The car only records energy usage while moving all this lot adds up to more than you think so if you are trying to work out the cost of running an EV you need to add 25-30% to the wh/m figure if you want to get a true cost of fuel. I am disappointed that EVM did not know/include this.

[@sargfowler9603]

Didn't realise this was so bad. Definitely worth including in the costs.

[@applicationsbroad7283]

Fun fact. DC rapid chargers (except Tesla) also change you for the AC consumed by the charger not the DC delivered to the car. So the more inefficient they are the more money they make and it's completely unregulated. What could possibly go wrong...

[@marria01]

Surely everyone who works out the charging costs of their car uses the energy consumed by the EVSE at the supply side, since that's how they're billed by their energy supplier? Mine even shows it on the built in screen of the EVSE and the associated smartphone app, in addition to the data from the smart meter IHD. Also, Tesla includes pre-heating, battery conditioning, cabin overheat protection, summon standby and sentry mode drain in the consumption figures in the 'Park' section of the energy page. So it is actually included in the total efficiency figures. Regarding the power usage with Sentry mode. Maybe he's like me and has it set to disabled when it's parked at home, since I have CCTV. I also had it parked up for four days at Center Parcs last summer and I just switched sentry mode off while it was there. It had 70% charge when I left it, and it still had 70% when I came back to it. The rest of the time, it's only parked for a few hours, so I've never really noticed the drain. But if people really think it's a problem, they could just disable it entirely. The option is there, after all.

[@fyank1]

@@marria01Yes this is true so EVM was correct in his figures. A lot of EV’s don’t have any drain when left parked which is also worth pointing out.

[@jeffg9706]

I go by what I pay the energy company and it's cheep as chips,over the last 10 months and only charging at home I've saved £1000 over the petrol car I owned and that's not taking into account low service charge and Tax.

[@bradskaallama]

How is the battery doing after 60k miles?

[@vandit83]

We got our MG ZS EV 4 years ago and we only just changed the tyres - at 65,000 miles!

[@justsomeguy934]

I'm in the USA with a Tesla. All of my Tesla friends (except one) average about 25,000 miles per set of tires. Congrats on your excellent tire wear. My singular friend gets 45,000 out of a set.

[@tigerv88]

Just done the calcs for my own MG5, fuel savings are impressive as largely charge at home on overnight tariff. Next time around will buy used and some good deals out there now. Thanks

[@rhiantaylor3446]

The best argument for buying a new car is so that you know the condition it is in when you decide to keep it beyond year 3/4. Keep it ! I would also say in passing that if you analyse this as a 4 year ownership you would not include the replacement of the still-legal tyres, which would still be on the car when you hand it back.

[@cpcnw]

2014 Leaf 24kW here @ 60k miles. Range is around 68 miles non motorway. For years was on 1p / mile until price hikes. Still, it's been way cheaper than running a moped. And nearly zero service charges.

[@srw_cricket2976]

I can highly recommend a Model Y, so much more practical as an SUV size than the Model 3. BTW saw you at Abington last Tues, I was queuing in my grey Y for a charge.

[@wakeywarrior]

Depends if you need the space. If not the 3 is a better choice as it’s much more efficient and you get quite a few miles more per charge. My 2022 RWD base model 3 gets 280 miles in summer real world. That’s a £39k car.

[@srw_cricket2976]

@@wakeywarrior He’s in a SR+ which is less miles than rear wheel drive Y. Anyway, as an old crock, I struggled getting in and out of the 3, surprisingly low to the ground. Y is a dream, massive relief for my knees and back.

[@peterbsimkins]

I feel this response is slightly pedantic, when working running costs of an ICE car how common is it to factor in losses for ticking over when stationary, at traffic lights, in congestion, or the event of any road delay/closure, left running to defrost in winter. What about losses in fuel dispensing from spillages or pump inaccuracies, which have been proven to be common, and evaporation when the vehicle is not used. I understood the illustration was to give an estimate of ownership not an exact figure and I commend EVM for generally overestimating the costs and not sugar coating the overall picture.

[@kevinphillips9537]

Hi what make/type of tyres did you use ???

[@mikek4708]

Interesting, what was the insurance costs. Would say that needs factoring in as it is part of running any vehicle in UK.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

All in the video.

[@mikek4708]

@@ElectricVehicleMan yep, I did hear it, but would have loved it written down. Fascinating, as I have a hybrid for work and I genuinely love it as I can charge from home and it saves be loads in tax. But the cost of charging outside the home is a joke so I don’t bother. Wasn’t aware TESLA’s get a cheaper rate on their charge points. I see a lot of DPD vans charging on them at night at and shopping centre near me, do you know if non Tesla’s get a cheaper deal at night?. Liked your run through. Have a good weekend.

[@jamsxr]

These are a pretty compelling buy in the used market. Just picked one up for the mrs, it’s nice steer and cheap and chips to run. 21 plate with 23k for £22k.

[@ashb8572]

I would only consider new if leased otherwise it would be used. As a household we have had 3 different EVs, a Nissan Leaf (still kept), MG5 and MG4 LR. Finally decided to settle and buy a 2019 Toyota Prius PHEV with very low miles. Made perfect sense for our use case. It has 6 years remaining on the car warranty and 11 years remain on its hybrid battery (subject to Toyota Servicing). If only the UK could ever catch up to Norway EV heaven, then I’d go back ditching ICE cars lol😂

[@vandamonium1731]

dont believe a weord he says as hes just stated that he does 60k in for years on his video and hen in one of my comments he does 30 k a year on a 4 year old tesla i bought a new corolla hybrid and its been amazing compared to our ev, but also norway are now offering better purchase deals on diesel and petrol hybrids at the moment

[@AK1L3s100]

Hi, I am new to the UK and I have seen Teslas Model 3 at ridiculous prices (I am talking about 14 or 15k). I come from Spain and usually second hand cars are much more expensive there. I was really excited to see those prices for a Tesla model 3 that I started to get my hopes up. The thing is that I am 25 years old and to insure that kind of car would probably cost me around 2k per year... I thought it would be worth it because of all the money I would save on petrol but is it really worth it?

[@stagghouses4826]

Can i ask you what you've lost in battery range after 4 years and 60k miles?

[@richmaniow]

Pleased to see the whiteboard back in action. I guess the first 4 years will see the biggest depreciation with most cars. If you kept the Tesla for another 6 years making a total of 10 years, and if by then it's worth say £10k? you will have lost about £30k through depreciation or just £3k per year, so might be worth considering. I did see a vid recently where someone bought a used 200,000 mile Tesla (ex Uber) and it held up very well so they seem built to last.

[@MrAdopado]

I'm holding on to my SR+. There's no way I will need to spend that level of depreciation loss keeping it going.

[@DavidBrown-bs7gg]

So a used SR+ would be super cheap to own/run

[@energywales]

Fantastic insight to M3 running costs - perhaps also add in insurance costs as well which has become mighty expensive for just about everyone

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

I did.

[@MrAdopado]

Did you watch the video 😀

[@trick700]

What did you say the overall pence/mile is?

[@MatthewBrownUK]

Not sure how you financed the original purchase but your payback amount should also be added in. Running costs are at £540 / month would this temp you to lease next time???

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

Leasing was more expensive. And the longer I keep it the lower that goes.

[@fredfred2363]

My old, very reliable, super efficient, diesel car costs me just £750 a year for everything. No depreciation. If anything, it's going up in value!

[@t4bs594]

Interesting video. Made me feel a bit better about the depreciation on my Model Y. By the way, what tyres do you use? The price seems reasonable.

[@tenajnin]

It really depends on where you live for chargers. I live in Northern Ireland and there are no Tesla superchargers even at the Tesla dealership. Also important to factor in a like for like car, electric is c.£5k more that a petrol equivalent. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for BMW and Toyotas hydrogen partnership

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

There are 3 hydrogen stations in the UK. Hydrogen ain’t happening for passenger cars.

[@jeffg9706]

Always buy as new but not new and make sure you know enough about what you're buying, I bought a 7 Month old Nissan Leaf for a snip and the car is A1 after running for the last 10 months i can't fault it, As usual this was a good video thanks.

[@KokowaSarunoKuniDesu]

I'm interested to see you do the same calculation for the Mii after 4 years (from new) or 2 years since you got it used with already 50% depreciation. Dramatically lower I'm guessing.

[@johnpickard9953]

Interesting video. I have a running total cost for my e-niro (August 2020 plate) bought from new. OK I do very little in mileage. Bought it new for £31000 (inc govt grant). Can get one on Cinch as guide for around £20000 so depreciation is £11000. No tyres in fact hardly any wear (less than 1mm tread depth loss) Granted only done 9800 miles. Free servicing for 1st 3 years then last service including MOT £150. Charge at home 98% of time so total fuel bill today £273.36.If I have done my maths right that is a cost of £11423.36 over 3.6 years

[@jcfallows]

It's still a lot of money to lose for a car! I'm glad I bought my Zoe GT LINE at two years old with 9K Miles for £17000 cheaper than new! My insurance was £440, but if it goes up to silly heights then it will be bye bye.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

I think £20k is a little optimistic for a 2020.

[@raptorpome2577]

Hello have you ever stated who you are insured with or done a video on ev insurance... say a top ten of companies with price and level of cover offered... a few years ago i was with Toyota insurance they actually refused to insure any all electrical vehicles..... i guess that's changed now as they actually make one now.... ps thank you for the video

[@Raturidesagain]

Big picture - costs about the same as ICE. 10 years ago - nowhere near close. 10 years from now - ICE will be entirely uncompetitive if we think of declining costs and increasing efficiency of batteries.

[@johnbow100]

Just out interest, how many miles are you getting out of a tyre?

[@dogbreath6974]

@johnbow He drove about 60,000 miles and used 3 sets of tyres, so 20,000 miles a set.

[@MrAdopado]

@@dogbreath6974 Yes ... I would say that's a bit higher wear than average for an SR+ (based on my own experience).

[@stephaniesullivan6976]

Wondering if you missed a big TCO item. Here in the US I have to purchase auto insurance. Is it not like that in the UK? In my case this is averages about $1,000/yr over the last 2 years for my Model Y LR. I noticed it's missing from your whiteboard TCO analysis. If the same were true for you it would add about 3.2K pounds or about 800 pounds a year.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

I mentioned insurance in the video.

[@stephaniesullivan6976]

@@ElectricVehicleMan My apologies - I must have had a distraction during that brief part. It seems your insurance rates are noticeable lower than I get here. My insurance had about a 15% EV related bump in price. 😞

[@djksly2970]

Seen one of these for sale for £250 month pcp is it worth it ? Would love to get one

[@jond46687]

Great video thanks. To me, the takeaway is that a new tesla costs you loads in depreciation (like almost all cars) but it is really cheap to run and own. Therefore it has helped me to make up my mind, to buy a second hand model 3. Thanks again.

[@barr96]

I'm hanging on for a NIO, I find the battery swap a game changer in terms of long ownership, but also slower depreciation

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

You'll be waiting for a long long time then. Not only do the cars need to exist but swap stations do as well, all over the country.

[@barr96]

@ElectricVehicleMan 2026, for NIO, Onvo and potentially Firefly to be on UK soil. With regards to BaaS, yes, swap stations would be the ideal choice, but the majority of charging will be at home. In terms of Tesla, I've had several test drives, they have great onboard tech, but the interior and exterior quality is somewhat lacking.

[@tonyfeasby1437]

Ouch. Good advert for leasing there. Makes me some of the weird bits about the ENY1 sat on the driveway now

[@NickFoster]

Looking at his calculations leasing is still more expensive. I have the same car but a year younger on a four year lease. At £425 per month plus nearly £4k up front that's just over £24k, so more than his depreciation. Plus I would have to pay extra for the mileage since the lease only includes 8,000 miles per year.

[@tonyfeasby1437]

@NickFoster suppose its about the deal I guess.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

And the longer I keep, the cheaper per month it gets.

[@tonyfeasby1437]

​@ElectricVehicleMan that's definitely true. Iron out the depreciation curve

[@hotshot8365]

How about the time you spent whilst charging it away from home multiplied by your hourly rate added in as a cost (your time waiting for it to charge isn’t free).

[@rambling_rambler]

I never use yellow screenwash, it looks like someone is taking a pee! I've just bought a preregistered Volvo C40 Ultimate saving over £11k with just 140 miles. The dealer said it's been in and out of the showroom and test driven once.

[@unknowngoogleuser4372]

Great Video, just bought a used Model 3 Long Range. What's the service schedule as mines just over 2 yrs old.

[@sargfowler9603]

Most major service/tyre garages have a Tesla service plan once a year.

[@quentinsf]

But there's no official schedule from Tesla. They just recommend you get a service when you feel like it (or something like that).

[@sargfowler9603]

Google the recommended servicing if you don't believe me

[@quentinsf]

@@sargfowler9603 Yes, sorry - they do have suggestions for certain things being done at certain intervals -- and I see those have got more detailed since I bought mine -- but there isn't the equivalent of the more generic 'minor service every 10,000 miles and major service every 20,000' or whatever that you get from other manufacturers.

[@SimonFranklin-wr9yu]

In the early days of ownership as you didn't have an air source heat pump, I image your costs were even less as I guess you fuelled in by the solar? I don't have a an air source heat pump yet but by using my battery storage and cheap rate night tariff have fuelled my car for the last twelve months for a grand total of £173:59. Not bad for 9000 miles. Never yet used a public charger.

[@Jaw0lf]

These are very interesting numbers. My Kia E Niro 4+ is almost 3 years old. I have now completed 27,532 miles at a cost of £870.91 taking 8043.246kWh. These costs were initally at 11p but now down to 7.5p per kWh. Some of those charges were completed at Rapid chargers and are reflected in the total cost. I had this on a lease at £405 per month fully maintained. My last 34 months have cost me £430.62 per month for a new EV. It has had 2 services and 4 new tyres. It is now time to swap and I am buying a new Tesla model 3 RWD (SR) as the suspension difference is massive and the older one unfortunately does not agree with my bad neck. The new one is amazingly smooth and quiet. I am intending to keep it for a longer time, at which point depreciation is going to drop. Must admit I would have preferred one a year or so old! I do believe that EV's will always maintain a price due to the value of the battery pack, so I don't believe we will see the sub £1000 car in the future? Also re the car tax, this is an annoyance in that they are applying it to older EV's, whilst certain diesels still pay zero or £20 a year. I am happy to pay it but feel the EV owners are again being targetted in favour of the ICE drivers. The Government did bring down the costs of fuel but forgot about electricity prices at rapid chargers.

[@0-Will-0]

Maybe a different govement could change VED, hopefully. Not sure how it works currently as have been paying 0 for 4+ years but it would make sense to be a percentage of new car value with much more being added for Petrol and Diesel cars.

[@stuartburns8657]

Yup, my 2 diesels and £20 and £30 per year. Got to laugh really. You forgot to mention insurance, that wasn't part of the lease was it? And don't forget expensive car tax applies to EV's from 2025 (£335 pa)

[@Jaw0lf]

@@stuartburns8657 Insurance is needed on a car, whateverpowers it. My insurance is no more than my previous ICE car. Standard rate VED is £190, non BEV's will pay extra for their emissions, so this is cheaper than new ICE car and only £10 for first year. My OLD ICE car on PCP was bought well below the RRP but VED is based on RRP for the luxury over £40,000 priced ones. Those pay a lot more in the first year. So your £335 figure is wrong for EV's.

[@stuartburns8657]

@@Jaw0lf Not according to the UK Gov website "Electric cars will no longer be exempt from road tax from April 2025, with both the £165 annual flat rate and the £355 ‘Expensive Car Supplement’ for cars costing over £40,000 applying to EVs"

[@Jaw0lf]

@@stuartburns8657 You seem to miss the point that the extra charge is for cars over the £40,000. Many EV's are under this price. I acknowledged this above also showing how many ICE cars pay this, with increased amounts due to emissions. Standard VED rates have been published for 2025 at £190 for standard rate. Additional tax for BEVS over £40,000 list price bought on or after 1st April 2025, then £410 is added to this. As previously mentioned more CO2 emissions you pay more in first year First-year VED in 2024-25: If this is the first time you’re paying tax on your car, the first-year VED rates will be as follows: • Band A: Cars that produce 0g/km of CO2 will pay £0 in VED (you’ll still need to register the vehicle as taxed) • Band B: Cars that produce 1-50g/km of CO2 pay £10 • Band C: Cars that produce 51-75g/km of CO2 pay £30 • Band D: Cars that produce 76-90g/km of CO2 pay £135 • Band E: Cars that produce 91-100g/km of CO2 pay £175 • Band F: Cars that produce 101-110g/km of CO2 pay £195 • Band G: Cars that produce 111-130g/km of CO2 pay £220 • Band H: Cars that produce 131-150g/km of CO2 pay £270 • Band I: Cars that produce 151-170g/km of CO2 pay £680 • Band J: Cars that produce 171-190g/km of CO2 pay £1,095 • Band K: Cars that produce 191-225g/km of CO2 pay £1,650 • Band L: Cars that produce 226-255g/km of CO2 pay £2,340 • Band M: Cars that produce anything above 255g/km of CO2 pay £2,745 as the first-year rate

[@mochamocha1040]

How much is insurance?

[@michalsobczak3535]

Have I heard correctly. 12 tyres?

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

@@michalsobczak3535 over 65k miles and with a new set on. So 85k miles worth if you will.

[@TroggyPB]

May have missed something but my 2017 Prius MoTs cost me half what I think you mentioned at £100. OK if you need parts to get it through but £100 for the test?. Is that what Tesla charge?

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

2 x MOTs.

[@TroggyPB]

@@ElectricVehicleMan Yep you said two. Ya got me banged to rights EVM. 🤭

[@nickfosterxx]

FWIW: less than 5% of vehicles are driven more than 15,000 miles a year. Varies by model, eg Fiesta is under 5k, Audi A6 avg 10k. Tempting as they are, when most cars do less than 100 miles a week, most people simply don't need a Model 3, and should be hauling around a smaller battery. (Fleetnews, Feb 2023) In London, almost 70% of car journeys are under 5km/3mi. Half of those are under 2km. 60% carry no passenger.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

Depends if you can charge at home.

[@6776823]

Brake fluid needs to be checked after 4 years - check is around 15 pounds- if it needs replacement then add another 200

[@WestermanT.]

£200 for brake fluid change, someone saw you coming. Should be 1/4 of that.

[@johnmunro4952]

12:35 it's the price of driving a brand new car I'm afraid. I'm looking at an £11K MG zs EV and I reckon my mileage will cost me as little as £100 year utilising cheap EV overnight charging rates. My only concern is really battery degradation. How many years will I get out of a 5 year old Chinese made EV that has already done 60K? But then life is a gamble I suppose.

[@MrAdopado]

Obviously no-one can say ... but it would be wrong to simply equate "China" with the press coverage of dodgy scooter batteries! China is at the forefront of EV battery manufacture and make more than any other country. If you bought a Tesla Model 3 over the past 3+ years it will have been built in China. Even in the US Teslas have Chinese LFP batteries.

[@Accuaro]

Does this take into account insurance

[@anthonybrown4874]

Currently a bit of a no brainer if you can salary sacrifice or are a company car driver and normally run this class of vehicle, the depreciation smarts a bit but the vehicle is double the price of anything i would buy used or new. It looks like it has made sense for your use case but not for my own had there been a sub £15k new EV last year i might have taken the plunge.

[@robsengahay5614]

If someone bought your car for £22,000 tomorrow they wouldn’t lose that much on depreciation. My 2019 Australian SR+ has a similar depreciation to yours but I plan to keep on driving it so the annual cost of depreciation gets less with each passing year but the savings on fuel and servicing keep getting better compared to ICE.

[@sargfowler9603]

It's only worth £16K according to Autotrader

[@MrAdopado]

@@sargfowler9603 But if you keep the car it doesn't matter what the depreciation figure is! (Over the years I've had my car the depreciation has been a weird rollercoaster ... at one point you could even sell a Tesla for the same as what you paid but that was never going to last! It's really only been over the past year or so that the "hit" has been notably high.)

[@MrAdopado]

Yes, I always planned to keep my SR+ long-term ... as I have always done with my cars. Whether someone says my car is worth double its initial value or worth half its initial value is therefore irrelevent ... I still have the car I paid for, and it still does what it did when new ... oh, wait a minute, I should say it actually does more than it did when new due to multiple software updates!

[@sargfowler9603]

@@MrAdopado LOL

[@Bandits_At_3_o_Clock]

Car insurance??

[@jeremydavies4620]

Perhaps watch the whole video?

[@davidsworld5837]

he says at the end and remember it is a level 50 car insurance rate. due to it performance

[@Bandits_At_3_o_Clock]

It’s part of the total cost of ownership and should have been included on the whiteboard of truth.

[@MrAdopado]

@@Bandits_At_3_o_Clock Insurance is hugely variable. I have the exact same model at the same age and paid £230 at year 1 and £397 at year 4. This is obviously at the low end ... unless you live where I live with same risk factors you could pay much more so it probably doesn't tell you very much!

[@livingladolcevita7318]

Yes depreciation is a thing but only relevant when selling?

[@asjsingh]

Great video. Its a shame that public charging isn't cheaper. If i had a driveway it would make total sense. Without a driveway the costs look to work out to be almost equivalent to petrol.. assuming you do actually get the 50mpg from petrol across the 4 years which is very very optimistic.

[@chrisnicalane5864]

People often overlook the cost of tyres for EVs. They are generally heavier than their ICE counterparts, and having such high torque puts a lot of extra wear on them.

[@MrAdopado]

If you run a similarly powered car of any engine type they are very much the same in the tyre wear department. In fact an earlier SR+ (I have one) is the same weight as a BMW M3.

[@Shaunie2k]

Hi Andy As a none EV user but not a doom and gloom whats the Battery Deg over the four years and how has it impacted your overall range? Only reason for asking is I saw someone who had done 30k and I think they had a Deg of 16%?

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

They tend to drop to 90% after a year or so and sit around that for years. Tesla anyway.

[@0-Will-0]

Depreciation matters slightly less with Teslas because the charging network is so convenient and also cheaper.

[@Shaunie2k]

@@ElectricVehicleMan is 14% normal at 30k miles?

[@Shaunie2k]

@@0-Will-0 additional plentiful and ACTUALLY WORKING

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

Which car?

[@fix-and-drive-diy-repairs]

Me, "a Diesel-Freak" drove a tesla for te first time yesterday and it blew my mind!

[@RM-we7px]

In addition you are looking at no oil changes, no tune ups etc.

[@MrAdopado]

... and no clutch repairs, no brake pads/discs (for a lot more miles) ... if you can do your own annual brake clean/lube there is really no routine servicing so hundreds saved every year.

[@PeterLawrence-x6u]

How much did you pay for your insurance over the 4 years?

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

Near the end of the vid.

[@standupmoto]

Nice breakdown, thanks 👍

[@zedi924]

Whats your milage

[@ecoterrorist1402]

did you say legacy cars/van's are losing 0 or low road fund licence next yr.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

After 2017 registration EVs will pay £180.

[@no-oneman.4140]

Hi Andy, wish you'd cover depreciation in more detail. I've long held the belief that the 'industry' sets the figures which is in their interests of course. Like a cartel .... why anyone buys cars from new is a mugs game. I'm one of them and have been burnt a few times, madness.

[@MrAdopado]

The trick is not to sell it! Imagine how many routine repairs and replacements you could afford with that depreciation money.

[@antoniopalmero4063]

Anyone know about classic cars ? Currently tax free too .

[@marcely8004]

Interesting vid. Does go to show that it doesn't matter wether you drive ICE or EV, the largest cost is depreciation. Seems that buying new is for the wealthy or daft! 22k loss over 4 years is ridiculous.

[@jimmyguitar9873]

100% agree I have to take my Eniro to Kia every year for a £200 service to maintain the 7 year warranty. Absolute rip off to effectively spray lube on the hinges and conduct battery health check. They've got me over a barrel and bent over.

[@theojouille7110]

great video but you didn't include the insurance which is notoriously expensive due to the high group of the car.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

I did.