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Except for the fact that the 'monthly payment' is a lie based on fudging the numbers Groupon style. My opinion of Tesla has gone down after reading this and the

by nhangen 14y ago

Except for the fact that the 'monthly payment' is a lie based on fudging the numbers Groupon style. My opinion of Tesla has gone down after reading this and the fine print.

cjensen 14y ago
On the plus side, they have a calculator which lets you run the numbers yourself: http://www.teslamotors.com/true-cost-of-ownership http://www.teslamotors.com/true-cost-of-ownership Using that, I got $1K/month for me for the lowest end Model S. On the minus side, the initial values in the calculator are heavily shaded towards Tesla. Who spends 15 minutes at a gas stop? Using the average cost for electricity instead of the marginal cost?
- DannyBee 14y ago
  Except, the calculator isn't great at true telling, lying by omission. Try making the cost of gas low, and electricity high, and the "savings per month" simply drops to 0 and stays there, instead of wrapping around and becoming a cost. Yeah it's an estimate, but it doesn't cover any of the basic possibilities.
  - abjr 14y ago
    The fact that they have the Business Tax Benefit selected by default is also very disingenuous.
- nhangen 14y ago
  What I want to know his how much I'm writing a check for every month. The rest I can figure out on my own. The fact that they shaded the initial number in order to close the sale is deceiving, and honestly, surprising from a company I previously held in high esteem. It's not that this practice is uncommon, it's that I wouldn't expect it from Tesla.
- smackfu 14y ago
  Wow, that is certainly an interesting calculator. * Going from the $10k CA incentive to the $7.5k other states one changes the monthly from -80 to -11? Is the incentive sunsetting or something? * The default settings assume you are using it for business and can deduct the cost. Just unchecking that makes it significantly more $$$. * The gas savings assumes your gas car gets only 19 mpg and requires $5 gas.
- lux 14y ago
  Minor niggle, but it says "Time spent driving to a gas station and refueling". The nearest gas station to my house would take about 5 minutes to drive to, so 15 minutes isn't that unrealistic. Having a $222 business tax discount selected by default seems questionable to me though.
- Retric 14y ago
  I think I average 15 min per fill up when you include how far out of the way I need to drive. The gas station I use is only about 2 miles from my house but there are a lot of stop lights between here and there.

by nhangen 14y ago

Except for the fact that the 'monthly payment' is a lie based on fudging the numbers Groupon style. My opinion of Tesla has gone down after reading this and the fine print.

cjensen 14y ago

On the plus side, they have a calculator which lets you run the numbers yourself: http://www.teslamotors.com/true-cost-of-ownership http://www.teslamotors.com/true-cost-of-ownership Using that, I got $1K/month for me for the lowest end Model S. On the minus side, the initial values in the calculator are heavily shaded towards Tesla. Who spends 15 minutes at a gas stop? Using the average cost for electricity instead of the marginal cost?

DannyBee 14y ago
Except, the calculator isn't great at true telling, lying by omission. Try making the cost of gas low, and electricity high, and the "savings per month" simply drops to 0 and stays there, instead of wrapping around and becoming a cost. Yeah it's an estimate, but it doesn't cover any of the basic possibilities.
- abjr 14y ago
  The fact that they have the Business Tax Benefit selected by default is also very disingenuous.
nhangen 14y ago
What I want to know his how much I'm writing a check for every month. The rest I can figure out on my own. The fact that they shaded the initial number in order to close the sale is deceiving, and honestly, surprising from a company I previously held in high esteem. It's not that this practice is uncommon, it's that I wouldn't expect it from Tesla.
smackfu 14y ago
Wow, that is certainly an interesting calculator. * Going from the $10k CA incentive to the $7.5k other states one changes the monthly from -80 to -11? Is the incentive sunsetting or something? * The default settings assume you are using it for business and can deduct the cost. Just unchecking that makes it significantly more $$$. * The gas savings assumes your gas car gets only 19 mpg and requires $5 gas.
lux 14y ago
Minor niggle, but it says "Time spent driving to a gas station and refueling". The nearest gas station to my house would take about 5 minutes to drive to, so 15 minutes isn't that unrealistic. Having a $222 business tax discount selected by default seems questionable to me though.
Retric 14y ago
I think I average 15 min per fill up when you include how far out of the way I need to drive. The gas station I use is only about 2 miles from my house but there are a lot of stop lights between here and there.