I’m not a car person, I can drive anything, but my husband loves cars. After doing a lot of research, he decided that the Tesla Model Y was needed.
Certainly, I was not a car person. If that was up to me, I’m still driving a 1979 Monte Carlo where I learned to drive.
But, alas, I married a man in the car. When he sees the headlights and taillights of his car from a distance away from the block, he can name the make, model and current values of the Kelly Blue Book.
He dreamed of Tesla for years after going on a road trip with his friend Model S. As Teslas became more popular it became like a slug bug game for our family. “We have Tesla!” Our sons cried from behind our Nissan Pathfinder.
I bought the model y
As more electric cars enter the market, we decided to join the club. So my husband did what he did best – research. After considering the Libyans and the Polestars, he landed on the Tesla Model Y.
It had a decent range and great charging infrastructure. Most of our driving took place in the city, but we did occasional road trips to visit families in Iowa or north for holidays. Additionally, the family of four, the dog and luggage had the storage capacity needed a week away. When I took my first test drive, I also fell in love with the Model Y.
Related Stories
I’ve learned to love it
Tesla has a learning curve. On our first long trip, my husband and I went through a tense 30 miles as they didn’t stop charging when the car told us. We did math and thought we could get to our destination. We made it – after turning off the air conditioning and radio, we slowed down to 40 mph on the interstate to save the battery. Luckily, our marriage survived. Needless to say, we always stopped charging afterwards.
Also, driving a single pedal required some practice, but I loved it right away. It also enjoyed the Model Y’s acceleration, which led to its first speeding ticket since 1999. I’m sure the bright red colours were an easy target.
Stopping charging on a road trip was a nuisance, but we got used to the slightest inconvenience, spent some time on short walks, perusing the products of strange convenience stores and playing stupid car games.
I quickly discovered a major drawback
When we saw the final insurance estimate, we thought there had to be a mistake. But no – it really would cost roughly the same as our monthly grocery bill.
I knew the insurance would be high because I had two young adult sons drivers, but I never thought that adding Tesla would be expensive.
Electric cars usually cost more insurance than gas vehicles, and Teslas has some of the best premiums. Under current policy, Tesla costs over $333 a month, while gas-powered Audi costs half that.
Since then, Teslas has learned that Teslas is fully insured because repairs are expensive. The repair process can take a long time, so insurers are billing for long-term rentals. We also learned that Teslas drives so fast that insurance risk ratings are just below the performance vehicle ratings.
Of course, we also had some conversations about the Musk controversy, but in the end, our pocketbook and family will need to decide on the decision to sell Tesla this spring.
Now we’re shopping for plug-in hybrids
These are all factors that we didn’t think we should consider before we bought them, but as he is studying our next vehicle, they are definitely on my husband’s new list. We are currently in the market for plug-in hybrids. Because these are just a few of the prices we offer guaranteed and offer many of the same environment and cost benefits we enjoyed at Tesla.
I’m not a car guy yet. My husband is jumping into researching plug-in hybrids, but I’m here. I hope your next car is easy to drive and cheap. I may never get back a Monte Carlo, but at least I drive something that doesn’t require me to take my second mortgage just for insurance.
