Re:Toyota Camry cheaper to fuel than a Tesla Model 3?
by celerrimus on Thursday January 16, 2020 @04:28PM
(#22069154)
Interesting point of view. I assume you never sat in the recent model of Camry. I have opportunity to sat in two Tesla S, they are much more like Korean cars 10+ years ago. Beside fancy screens, cheap and shoddy inside, unacceptable for the price. Something that can't be compared to european or japanese mid-size cars. Or even recent korean models. I never sat in Model 3, and I'm comparing to european version of Camry, maybe US version made locally is "cheaper" inside, as we here in Europe pay much more attention to this.
Regarding fuel, I'm not an expert for US market, but again in Europe standard fuel (95 octanes) is sufficient enough for every car, even top performance engines like Ferrari. You can buy premium petrol, 98 or even over 100 octanes, but it's not required.
Tesla is expensive brand, but I don't think it's considered premium on this side of the pond. Especially with terrible reputations about the customer service. I think it would be fair to compare it with Camry - or in case someone need little more luxury, there's Lexus ES - basically Toyota Camry with premium touch - still noticeably cheaper than Lexus ES.
Tesla's build quality is more like BMW, Lexus and Mercedes than Toyota. Comparing to those cars you won't have that $11k advantage, fuel will cost more because you have to use premium petrol and cost of maintenance will be vastly different in the long run.