Well, 2023 has come to a close, and it seems like the right time to summarize the year and my experience driving our 2021 Tesla Model Y Long Range. Just a couple of days ago, I surpassed 48,000 miles on the odometer. I still stand by stating that I will never, willingly, buy another gas vehicle ever again.
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In 2023, we put a total of 17,734 additional miles on the Model Y averaging 318 Wh/mile while driving. Taking into account my battery degradation of approximately 10%, that equates to an average range of about 212 miles on 100% charge. Note though, that the total amount of energy added to the car for the year was closer to 560 Wh/mile. The additional 240 Wh/mile is consumed while the car is not being driven, running computers, maintaining battery and cabin temperatures, running Sentry mode, and charging loses. This later value is used to compute my electric costs. There are certainly things I could do to reduce this value a good bit, but the $400 or so extra expense to me is well worth getting in a warm car on winter mornings or less than the temp of the surface of the sun on summer afternoons.
Pause for a minute here to discuss having "only" 212 miles of real world range. This is totally a non-issue for me. The anti-EV world that keeps thumping on EVs not having enough range and wanting 500 mile range vehicles are just being unrealistic. The longest drive I had in 2023 between stops was 181 miles. I have said this on numerous occasions, but this is basically the limit of my bladder on most days and I NEED to stop. I have also found roadtripping where you must stop every 2 hours or so makes the trip so much more enjoyable, much less exhausting, and as a result, makes the trip a safer one for everyone traveling with me. Having an EV that gets about 300 miles of EPA range means about 200 miles of Highway driving range, and probably about 200 miles of local driving across many days (like commuting to work) as the vehicle will be using energy to prepare for the drive just like an ICE will use gas to warm up or cool down.
Roadtrips this year included a trip to Disney in January, State College in February, Finger Lakes in August, Jim Thorpe in October, and several trips to Greensburg, Harrisburg, and Lancaster to visit family. For work, I also made several trips to Washington DC. The locations that continue to present the most challenge for road tripping are any place where you intend to spend several days that have zero DCFC chargers nearby, or no L2 charging possible overnight. Jim Thorpe has nothing really unless you stay at one of the few B&Bs that have their own onsite chargers, and the Finger Lakes always requires some planning. This year, we stayed at a B&B in Trumansburg where there was a L2 charger 2 blocks away. Got my exercise that weekend for sure, but we made it work.
On two separate occasions, I rented a UHAUL trailer to move the kids about SE PA. I totaled 267 miles driven at 500 Wh/mile. I do not recommend pulling today's trailers with an EV. First, the charging infrastructure is just not well designed right now for EVs that are towing. The Lancaster Supercharger has one EV spot that is a pull in, but it leave the trailer out in the middle of the driveway. On another occasion, I was lucky that the site was empty and I could just block out about 3 other chargers without causing any issues. The future trailers need to get MORE aerodynamic.
I saved roughly $2500 in "fuel". PECO Time of Use electric rates, combined with solar panels/net metering, and finally, through selling SRECs, has all really helped to reduce our energy rate down to about $0.13/kwh for total home energy usage, but because I only charge at night, my energy costs are at roughly $0.11/kwh for charging up my vehicle. Note this assumes my Model Y replaced a Toyota Highlander that was getting about 20 mpg.
The biggest expense this year was for a new set of Summer tires. I always error on the side of replacing tires as soon as they start to feel unsafe in the rain. I had 24,500 miles on those tires when replaced. Cost for 4 tires - $1360. I am hoping the All Season tires I got to replace the OEM summer tires will last for at least three seasons (>30,000 miles). Wipers were second largest expense, then a state inspection, then wiper fluid.
My one concern right now is that I have seen a significant drop in the reported maximum range of my vehicle since late summer. My degradation was running about 6% at the time which equated to about 309 miles of EPA remaining range on the battery and better than 75% of similar vehicles. Since mid-August, I have seen a steady decline which has come in a series of drops which I honestly cannot explain. The vehicle is not reporting any issues and I have been meaning to run a battery condition / assessment cycle, but I just haven't had a chance to do that yet. I am now sitting at 10% total degradation with about 295 miles of EPA range. Something I am going to keep an eye on for sure in 2024 and beyond. (graph below)
I am excited to see what happens in 2024 in the EV space. The EV tax credit is now available at the Point of Sale rather than as a tax credit on next year's taxes. Many dealers are participating in the program that will transfer your tax credit at POS directly to them. This is important, because the IRS has indicated that they will not come after individuals that do not have the necessary tax liability to recieve the full tax credit per the rules in place in 2023. The Tesla Cybertruck has generated a ton of buzz and will be the focus of many EV discussions in 2024, but don't overlook Rivian, who is working on a smaller, more affordable SUV, and Aptera (https://aptera.us/), who I hope will start selling their EVs by the end of this year. I continue to be disappointed by the many OEMs, partucularly Ford and Chevy that have talked a good talk, but have come up so short this year of their beginning of year goals, and in many ways, have all but backed out of the EV space because of "profitability issues". Basically, the CEOs are playing CYA in my opinion.
Finally, the charging infrastructure should see huge changes in 2024. Throughout 2023, automaker after automaker announced they were transitioning to use of NACS (North American Charging Standard - clever name ... but it is Tesla's charging plug with CCS communications protocols). Many OEM vehicles should gain access to the Tesla Supercharging network by the end of the year. GM and Ford being the first out of the gate by the end of February from what we have heard. Owners of those vehicles will need to purchase an adaptor (some OEMs might send them out for free), but once this happens, and ALL EV owners experience the reliable, ever-present charging experience that Tesla owners experience, all other charging providers will have to step up or step aside. Many gas station chains are announcing significant installations of charging capabilities an many of their sites. This is an exciting year for EVs.
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