Three days with Tesla, on the German Autobahn

The Tesla Model 3 that I hired in Berlin, Germany

Electric or Petrol

Battery powered cars are controversial.  You yourself will likely fall into one of two camps when you hear the name Tesla, or in fact any discussion about electric cars.  You'll either hate the idea, as a petrol head, or you'll love the idea because you buy into the eco-hype that electric cars have propagated all over the world.

The petrol heads, who love the noise and distinct scent of fossil fuels say "yes, but those electric cars don't smell of anything, they're too slow, they don't go very far between charges, they're dull - and they're all driven by people wearing sandals!".

Those sandal-wearing Tesla-driving godless souls (as the petrol heads see them), will tell you that just by stepping into a Tesla, another polar bear is saved.  The clouds smile down on them.  They have a righteous priority over everyone else because electric car drivers are so planet-orientated.

Never has car ownership been more divisive as owning an electric car!

Tesla

Charging

This is where I have to make a confession.  Whilst the Tesla is the first electric car that I have spent any real time with, it's not the actual first electric car that I have experienced.  I didn't think it would be relevant for this blog, but it is.  It's actually very relevant.

You see, my first ever experience of an electric car was spending a day with a Nissan Leaf.  Whilst charging the Leaf was easy enough, one of the things that I noticed this week was the sheer number of Tesla-owned charging points - which can only charge Tesla cars.  Not only are they faster than any of the chargers that I used with the Leaf, on this three day trip, I didn't find a single faulty charger.  The same couldn't be said for other charger banks that I used.

Charging time is key when you own an electric car.  Even the fastest chargers can't currently compete with the length of time it takes to refuel a fossil fuel powered car.  But things are on the up.

Charging the Tesla, using a dedicated Tesla unit, took around 25 minutes from near enough empty (10% battery charge left).  Using the slightly slower 'Ionity' chargers took around 40 minutes for a similar charge. Ionity chargers are everywhere and will charge all electric cars.  

The Tesla-owned units are also easier to use.  With my hired Tesla, I was given included unlimited charging which required the use of a contactless card.  It was generally easy to use, but the Tesla units have two benefits.  You simply plug in and away it goes.  No cards.  It also shows you the actual cash amount being charged, in real time, on your Tesla dashboard.  

Charging the Tesla is very easy

Range..and anxiety!

You might have heard about range anxiety amongst the electric car-toting population.  It's a thing. It really is!

The absolute maximum range that I could squeeze out of the 3 was 310km (192 miles).  This was driving very conservatively (averaging around 70mph) and with real world demands such as air conditioning, sound and occasional wiper use.

Coming towards the end of my drive down to Dresden, I was down to about 11% battery and the car's excellent screen was telling me to head towards a nearby local charger in a village, to top up.  Easy enough, I thought, as I drove past several petrol stations towards my independent charger.  

I found the charger, no problem.  Confidently plugging in, and, nothing.  The unit started up, then immediately stopped.  I tried several times.  Nothing.  Rather than attempting a clumsy conversation in pigeon German, I decided not to call the number on screen and simply find another charger, which was the equivalent of 13% battery charge away (remember I'm at 11% here). 

By luck or some other good fortune, I limped along to the Ionity charger, coasting in on the electric equivalent of petrol fumes.  Relieved?  Yes.  But it proved a point that occurred more than once on this trip. Reliability of electric chargers is far from comforting.  There's a real way to go in this respect.  

Costs

Free to drive, great!  Well, no, not exactly.  

On this trip, I was spending around €10, to drive 100 kilometres.  My petrol car would cost in the region of €20 to drive 100 km's.  But, my car is an SUV, with a turbo petrol engine.  Like for like, I was disappointed with the cost of running the Tesla on this trip.  Of course, if you are charging from home, it'll be cheaper than using public chargers.  

Factoring in the cost of buying the Tesla in the first place, electric cars still represent poor value for money. For the equivalent SUV in Tesla, you'd be looking at around £58,000, versus the £40,000 that I spend on my Volvo every few years.

Then, the tax breaks in the UK for driving electric won't last forever either.  And what do you do with the Tesla, if you keep it for ten years when the batteries are worn out and you're staring down the barrels of a £20k bill for a new battery pack? (and you'd still have a ten year old car).

Conclusion

Is electric the way forwards for car driving?  Honestly, no, I don't think that it is.  But nor do I think that fossil fuelled cars will last too much longer either.  I just think that how we power cars in future hasn't been found yet.

Based on both research and my own experience this week with the Tesla, there are several reasons why I don't think that electric cars are suitable at the moment..and by the time they are suitable, that future fuel will have been found.  

Here's why I wouldn't buy an electric car right now:

• They take three times as long to charge as the petrol equivalent
• Range is very limited, versus the petrol equivalent - especially at higher speeds
• The fuel cost saving isn't that great - only about 30% nowadays, versus the equivalent petrol car
• The cost of buying an equivalent electric car, is 30-70% more than petrol based cars
• After ten years, the batteries will need replacing, at significant cost.  A well maintained petrol will last much longer
• Any tax incentives won't last forever 
• Charging points aren't anywhere near as reliable as they need to be - range anxiety is real
• There simply aren't enough charging points to support a rapid growth in electric car ownership
• I don't think that they are the long term alternative to petrol and diesel 
• I'm not fully convinced about the eco-credentials of electric cars

That said, here's why I would buy one:

• I'm an early adopter and early adopter's lose all sense of rationale to get the latest tech!
• I did enjoy driving the Tesla Model 3 - it's fast off the mark and torque is outstanding throughout
• They are cheaper to run than the petrol equivalent - for the time being
• If someone else is buying (so covering the capital cost and depreciation), the benefit-in-kind (company car tax in the UK, is just 1%)
• Less people buy outright these days with many simply leasing - so would never feel the financial pain of batteries wearing out
• The cost of electric cars is falling as adoption rates rise
• Tesla has had quality control issues - and certainly the one I had wasn't perfect - but you don't need to buy Tesla these days - Kia and VW in particular are producing some great EV's now

I hired my Tesla Model 3 from Berlin, Germany