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The Model 3 and Model Y are vehicles like no other. They’re accessibly priced, amazingly feature rich, they literally improve over time and are incredibly cheap to fuel and maintain. When compared to any other vehicle, it honestly seems crazy to purchase anything else… but I personally don’t think everyone is aware of just how much better they are.

Not convinced?

Let me tell you the secrets.

Full disclosure: I don’t have either car at the moment. We have a lease on a Subaru Forrester for another year (3 year lease) but when it’s up we’ll almost certainly grab ourselves a Model Y. I also have two (2) shares in Tesla and they are the only stock I own in anything. I don't have spare money to invest, but I made an exception here.

Introduction

The reason I’m writing this article is because Tesla is working hard to improve the world.

Exhaust pollution affects climate change, obviously, but automotive exhaust also has huge immediate affects on our lives. Exhaust Pollutants causes depression, diabetes and arthritis. China believes they have 300,000-400000 premature deaths per year to pollution (Source).

Obviously electric cars aren’t perfect, but the more adoption that we see, the stronger the message to governments and manufacturers we send. We have so little power in this world, but we can change so much with the collective power of our wallets.

Corporations only care about profit and shareholder value. Our world could be ravaged by intense weather daily, and nothing will change unless companies can see that the world’s population will purchase electronic items over combustion engines.

It doesn’t make sense to just buy a car if you don’t need one, that’s a misuse of resources… but if you’re looking to change your car then I’d strongly suggest looking at the Model 3 or Model Y.

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Reason Number 1 : World’s Safest Car

Obviously, we’re all aware that driving is dangerous and that we’re at risk every time we jump in. While cars have gotten safer, we’ve also collectively become more distracted drivers. Literally every day I see people driving with their phone held at the top of the steering wheel. The Model 3 was awarded full points by the NHTSA and is one of the World’s Safest Cars (Source) and while the Model Y hasn’t started production yet, it does share 70% of components with the Model 3, so I’d be surprised if it doesn’t also rate extremely well.

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Reason Number 2 : Get better over time

The Model 3 and Model Y could potentially increase in value over time, especially those purchased with the Full Self Driving capabilities before this functionality is released. Cars that don’t drop in value the instant you drive them off the lot are incredibly rare, and tend to be only classic cars.

Over the Air Updates

All of Tesla’s vehicle range is updated when updates are pushed through and your vehicle gets into your wifi range. Recently the Model 3 became 5% more efficient due to software updates, and this week Advanced Summon will be pushed out to Model 3s (the ability for your car to come to you when you hold down a button on the app).

I believe that you can also call the service center when you have issues, and they’re able to push fixes to you over your WiFi. This is obviously a trillion times more convenient than taking your car to a service center.

In the last 6 months, Model 3s have received updates over the owner’s wifi that have given them; sentry mode, dog mode, camper mode, fart mode, romance mode, 5% more range, 5% more acceleration, etc.

What other car gets better while it's sitting at home?

Reason Number 3 : Co-pilot now, Autopilot soon

At the moment, you are completely able to have your car drive itself on the highways. I believe you can also set it to drive itself on quiet roads, and an update came through last week that now recognizes stop signs.

I understand this frightens a lot of people, but understand that Tesla has already collected a billion miles of copilot miles. Drivers must currently have their hands on the steering wheel even when copilot is on, so they can take back control in an instant if something goes wrong. Whenever a driver takes back control, that data is sent back to Telsa (without any identifying data) and analyzed so the software can be improved and the millions of edge cases can be taught to the neural network.

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This is beyond massive… that means that every single person who uses the copilot function is improving your car.

I think the current plan is by the end of 2020 you should be able to fall asleep in your car and be taken entirely to your destination, which includes parking… why would you buy any other car? Think about how productive and/or relaxed you could be if you didn’t have to worry about actively driving yourself to work or on long road trips? The car you buy today, could be driving you around autonomously in a couple of years if that’s what you want. Amazing!

I literally see someone every day on their phone while they’re driving, even on the highway… it is going to be safer for absolutely everyone for these people to be driven by their car.

There have been accidents with the copilot function enabled… and these have tended to be drivers who have owned their car for a long time and potentially got lazy with this feature. It’s not perfect, but it is currently 1000 times safer than a human driver, and the data backs that up. Don’t forget that the car doesn’t get distracted, doesn’t get emotional or drowsy, has 8 cameras instead of 2 eyes and has all the experience of every other Tesla driver included. I have absolutely no doubt that in a couple of decades it will be illegal for humans to drive themselves…

Reason Number 4 : Cheaper overall

Let's run through the roll call of how these cars save you money:

• Electricity is dramatically cheaper than gas/petrol
• Maintenance cost is significantly lower
• Tax rebates for Electric Vehicles
• No haggling on price

Ease of purchase

Remember the last time you bought a car? How long did it take you? How many websites did you trawl, how many dealerships did you visit? How many games did you have to play with the car salesman? Did you take your Dad or partner with you because they’re better at negotiating?

Auto manufacturers sell their cars to the dealerships for a set price… but you could go to two different dealerships and the exact same model will be different prices. The dealerships set the prices and make the majority of their money on up-selling features, finance, insurance and service.

Tesla doesn’t have any dealerships… you buy your car on their website and the price is just the price. No bargaining, no running around town, no games. You pay the exact same that everyone else does.

Souce

Once you plug in the features you’re purchasing, the car is delivered to you at home or work. I believe it currently takes between 2 weeks and a month to get your new car custom made and delivered to you.

Also, without a dealership network, this means Tesla comes to you to service or fix your vehicle (if they can't do it over the air).

Cost of purchase

Tesla’s are known to be a luxury vehicle… but did you know you could get the base level Model 3 is priced at $35,000 USD? There is no other vehicle at that price point that has so many features.

Tax Rebates

Obviously you'll need to look up your own location. I'm in Portland, Oregon in the US, so that means if I bought a Model 3 today, I'd be eligible for:

• $3750 US Federal rebate (Source)
• $2500 Oregon State rebate (Source)

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Obviously it's disappointing that the US is decreasing it's tax incentives for electric vehicles... but it's not super surprising given the industries impacted and their ability to lobby specific politicians. Why kids don't band together and create their own lobby group is beyond me. So unorganized...

Cost of fuel

The Model 3 and Model Y are full electric vehicles. For the most part you plug your car in when you get home and it’s full in the morning. Otherwise you might have to purchase power at a Tesla supercharger, this is still cheaper than petrol and is really only for roadtrips. Most people just plug in at home or work.

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Cost of maintenance

The Model 3 has 24 moving parts. The average car has over 10,000. (Source There is just a lot less things that can break on these cars. Most automotive manufacturers purchase parts from all over the place, and then fit them into the vehicle and spend time trying to make everything work with everything else. Everything in the Model 3 is made in the same factory, and each component is designed specifically for that vehicle and its software platform. I believe Tesla makes everything (seats, everything) except for the battery. The battery is made by Panasonic in the Tesla factory (although, if Tesla does manage to purchase to Maxwell Batteries, they might be able to make the whole car themselves).

This strategy seems foolish at first look.

If a company makes the world’s best window wipers, why would you try and make wipers yourself? Why would you try and be the best at everything single thing?

The answer is that you’re far less beholden to anyone else, you can completely control the quality of everything and you can ensure everything is made perfectly from a holistic point of view. As cars/computers-on-wheels get more complicated you really want everything to be in sync with everything else.

I was working at Toyota when the workers at our glass manufacturer went on strike… because Toyota was using the Just In Time methodology for logistics (parts don’t sit in warehouses for months) then our plant pretty much shut down until the glass manufacturer got back up and running. I think General Motors was using the same supplier, so both factories effectively shut down until it was all resolved.

All of this means that once you’re good at making all the bits, the cost of vehicle manufacture ends up being lower, and the cost of maintenance is significantly reduced.

Reason 5 : Amazing performance

Remember when electric vehicles were pretty much golf buggies?

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Check out these stats:

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So, ah, maybe now you're worried the car is too fast? Nervous about your kids driving it?

No problems… you can limit the speed of the vehicle via the app on your phone, which also systematically reduces the acceleration accordingly. You can limit the speed, which asks for your PIN… so don’t tell the kids what that is.
This also means that if you car was to be stolen or car-jacked, you could limit the speed straight away to help the police catch the thief. (Note, I believe this speed change currently only activates once the car is turned off, so if you are car jacked, it won’t be immediate). There are cameras in the car though, so you might be able to catch the thief later once the car is recovered.

Reason 6 :SO MANY FEATURES

Advanced Summon

You’ve gone to the shops, and when you come out… it’s raining.

You no longer have to run through the rain like a lunatic…. You can, right now, summon your car to you. You hold down a button on the app, and while you hold that button down, it will un-park itself and drive itself to you, while following all the rules and watching out for pedestrians. As soon as you let go of the button it will stop… so you’re in complete control.

Do you understand how amazing this is? You car will get out of it’s parking space and come to you… by itself.

AMAZING!!

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Dog Mode

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This is a cute feature.

Since the car is electric, you don’t have to leave your car running to set the climate controls. The car can be completely locked and shut down, except for the climate control and the screen display will warn passerbys/concerned citizens that your dogs are completely happy in the climate controlled environment. I’ll need to check on this, but I think I remember someone saying that you can check on the car’s internal camera through the app to check on your dogs if you need to.

Internal camera

There is an internal camera that can record or provide live streaming of the passengers of the car. This functionality isn’t so useful at the moment, but in the future when the Model 3 and Model Y are completely autonomous, you could send your car out to work for you as a robotic Uber or Lyft replacement. There’s lots of governmental regulatory work to be completed before this is possible, but it looks like the hardware and software are pretty much ready to go.

The Tesla leasing options actually don’t allow the leases to purchase the car at the end of the lease period. The reason for this is because Tesla will set up their own network of automated ride-sharing cars, and so basically the Model 3s will be leased out until the Tesla network is ready.

Sentry Mode

This is huge! Basically, the 8 different cameras on the car will start recording if they sense someone near the car. A warning comes up on the screen to tell the person they might be in trouble if they continue, which I’m sure makes the Model 3 and Model Y unappealing to robbers.

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I saw a YouTube video the other day of a lady who deliberately keyed someone’s Model 3, and it was all caught on camera. The owner of the car provided the footage of the incident to the police who were able to identify and charge the woman. You can only imagine that this feature alone will reduce insurance premiums in the long run.

You can set sentry mode to come on whenever you leave your car, or only in certain situations or locations. I think you can also set it to ask you if you want it enabled when you park.

Also Tesla Sentry Mode captures politician in Model 3 hit-and-run.

Automatic features when you arrive home

You can set your car to automatically open your garage door when you’re pulling up, as well as automatically pull your mirrors in as you approach your usual parking spot. This is a great time-saving feature for those people that park in a tighter garage space.

Camper Mode

The back seats fold down pretty nicely and I’ve seen a few pictures of people setting up a mattress in their cars. Camper Mode just allows the climate control to stay on through out the night, so you don’t get too hot or cold. This is something I’m really excited about for the Model Y… we got our Subaru Forrester specifically to go camping, but the back seats don’t go down exactly flush and it gets really cold at night in the Pacific Northwest.

Reason 7 : Fueling convenience

It's probably the smallest actual reason to buy one of these cars. How long do you spend at a petrol/gas station every 2 weeks? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? Well.... now you'll get those minutes back!

Basically you'll plug your car in overnight and then you'll be good to go in the morning.

For road-trips, it's a little trickier, but Tesla is installing new Supercharging stations every week:

The ones near me Source

Basically you can plug your car into a number of stations on the go. You'll have access to all the Tesla ones, and there are other brands of electric vehicle charging stations that you can use if you purchase the converter. It's really not a big deal.

Reason 8 : Idling cars is the devil’s work

One of the many, many differences between America and Australia is how many people sit in their idling car in the US. This totally doesn’t happen in Australia… firstly, the weather tends not be as extreme, but mostly it’s because fuel is so expensive in Australia. It needs to be shipped to the country… and then trucked all over the place. It’s a massive country and a small population, so fuel has just always been crazy expensive. Idling in your car is pretty much the same as keeping warm by setting your wallet on fire.

In the US, fuel is dramatically cheaper (31% Source) and so I’ve noticed lots of people sitting in the cars playing on their phone or eating… and I’ve just released that it’s actually illegal to do so in every place I’ve seen it. Idling your car is illegal in 33 US States (Source. This isn’t a problem in an electric vehicle because idling doesn’t exist. The climate control runs straight off the massive battery.

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There's other reasons too, like the cars are silent which is more pleasant, it parks itself, etc... but I thought I'd tackle some of the excuses you hear to why they don't want an electric vehicle....

Annoying excuses people give

You know what people are like, they’re set in their ways and don’t like change; better the devil you know, etc… but we all know they’ll relent eventually, because, honestly, they’re not horse and carting around.

There’s no point because power comes from coal-powered plants anyway!

This is such an annoyingly dismissive argument that only takes a second to dispel:
1.) Most electric providers have green options.
2.) Vote with your wallet. Buying an electric car sends a message.
3.) Solar installation is getting cheaper
4.) Support a growing industry (350,000 solar installers vs 80,000 coal miners).
5.) Electric vehicles have an fuel efficiency of about 62%, ICE cars sit at around 21%.

I like to go fast!

Here is a video of a $60,000 sedan Model 3 beating a $300,000 sports car.

Elon Musk is a crazy jerk!

Obviously, you’re entitled to your opinion… but the Ford Model T forced people off the shared roadways 100 years ago didn’t stop people from buying Fords then nor now. Henry Ford also championed the 5 day work week (thanks dude!) but not because it made the world a better place, but because he worked out that rest leads to increased productivity. Elon Musk, for all his faults, is most interested in making the world a better place.

Climate Change is a myth!

Obviously, this is a whole thing in itself and I personally believe that mankind has adversely affected the world with our pollutants, you might disagree but honestly, even if there was a 5% chance of it being real, wouldn’t you still want to try and not destroy our world? I’m sure you wouldn’t be thrilled with me building an endless power source that had a 5% chance of blowing up the planet.

I totally understand that it’s extremely complicated with a trillion variables, but the pollutants that come out of each car exhaust cause death, sickness and depression. For example, the Ford Explorer has been accidentally poisoning it’s customers for a while now Source

Also, these kids are super concerned that adults and politicians aren’t doing enough… this could be an amazing way to help them out.

Batteries blow up!

These are edge cases and can not compare to how flammable an internal combustible engine is… I mean, it’s in the name.

Regarding the risk of electrochemical failure, [this] report concludes that the propensity and severity of fires and explosions from the accidental ignition of flammable electrolytic solvents used in Li-ion battery systems are anticipated to be somewhat comparable to or perhaps slightly less than those for gasoline or diesel vehicular fuels. The overall consequences for Li-ion batteries are expected to be less because of the much smaller amounts of flammable solvent released and burning in a catastrophic failure situation.
Source[ - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Tesla is currently trying to purchase the company Maxwell Batteries who apparently have developed a dry battery technology which should be easier to manufacture (providing us with cheaper cars) and also (apparently) prevent batteries from catching fire.

Every day I read bad news about Tesla!

Tesla is far from perfect. They can be frustrating and stubborn and make some bizarre decisions. They’re trying to innovate… which means doing everything differently… sometimes that works out well as things were done a certain way for reasons no longer relevant, and sometimes it goes badly as things were done a certain way because it was the best way.

The thing is, Tesla stock is that an amazing sawtooth stock:

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Volatility in a share price is where stock market dudes make all their money.

Tesla stock goes up and down rapidly… whereas lots of other company stock tend to follow a boring trend either upwards or downwards, with not much action. This means that there is lots of money to be made by market manipulators of Tesla stock. You’ve got The Shorts, who enter into deals where they’ll sell stock at a price and then buy that same amount back at a cheaper price. If you stand to make $10M on the stock market in a day, throwing half a mill at a journalist or publication to write a negative piece on a particular company is nothing… especially when those articles get clicks from concerned shareholders anyway. It’s win win.

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Members of the ‘Tesla Cult’ tend to be normal investors or fans who don’t have money to throw around to publications… so basically when Tesla makes an announcement (like, every week at the moment), their stock goes up, and Forbes or CNBC shout out the negativities, their stock goes down. Tesla doesn’t profit from the shares that are out in the wilds, and they aren’t spending money on advertising, so they don’t spend any time or money counteracting those negative articles… which is fine… they don’t need advertising at this point and they’ve got more than enough on their plates already.

The articles may make valid points, but don’t let them dissuade you from purchasing a product that is a good fit for you… 10 trillion negative articles still doesn’t stop you from summoning your car from the car park like Batman.

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Anyway, I've been researching Tesla vehicles for a while and I wanted to share my research. They're a pretty exciting company making world-changing products. If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up.

Thanks for reading!