Really? I have a 20 year old Honda del Sol--which is essentially a 2-seater Civic variant--on which I spend under $500/yr on gas and under $500/year on maintenance. That's not typical I'm sure--and I do have another vehicle--but you can't claim your numbers as general savings.

Speaking of savings, it's funny how no one is including safety in this breakdown of cost.

The Model S/X are considered some of the safest vehicles on the planet, even breaking testing equipment, while I'm not convinced you'd do as well in that 20 year old del a Sol (or any older vehicle for that matter).

And once you start dealing with kids and safety, it becomes even more important.

Can you really compare a 20 year old honda del sol to a new model 3 (when it comes out obvioulsly) though? I don't have anything against used cars, but its apples and oranges. You can totally claim those numbers as savings, in an apples to apples comparison to a similar class car from a close year.

The claim was around saving money vs. a Civic. You're going to have to assume a lot of miles (and make favorable assumptions about long-term maintenance) to make the numbers work. I have nothing against EVs but they're generally not a good purely financial decision for most people today.

[ADDED: The mass-market Tesla is going to still be a premium vehicle relative to other options. There's nothing wrong with that. But it's unrealistic to expect that crunching the numbers the right way will make Tesla the optimal financial decision for everyone.]

When you're what comparing is gas and maintenance, certainly - the main disadvantage of 20 year old cars is that they're worse for both.

Are you sure about maintenance? Consumer Reports has all of the currently released cars at below average reliability.

Consumer Reports now says Model S is average for reliability -- that's the good news that the LA Times buried in their article.

Good luck on that 28K price point ... maybe if you're shopping for a Chevy but not a Tesla.

That means I have to drive it for 15 years before it's 'free'... That's a long time to go with one car.

Edit: Still a (relative) good deal though, depending on what car you'd otherwise have bought.

You don't need the car to be "free" though. If you were going to buy a Civic in any case, you were going to get the intrinsic value of getting around in a decent car. Now you're getting the same thing and in addition, a little spare change. If the numbers that person quoted are correct, it's a strictly better deal.

And all the other trade offs involved in electric vehicles. e.g. Worse for road trips,

How long do you have to drive a Honda Civic before it's free?