Yes, I still have my Z’s. But while I wait for the new Z to come out, I got antsy for a daily that wasn’t my F250 (diesel). And I really grew to like the Tesla. Knowing the Model S and Model X were completely out of budget, I went with a Model 3. It’s nice to be in a smaller car again.

TRICKS OF PURCHASING:

1) If you know someone with a Tesla, they can send you a referral link-I didn’t know this before, so I’m telling you now. That refferall link will give you up to $1000 off your purchase and it helps the person who referred you receive ‘Credits’ for there ‘Loot Box’ which is basically money off of Tesla Products. (If you don’t know anyone with a Tesla, feel free to use my code! https://www.tesla.com/referral/melissa358964

2) Purchase a Tesla that’s already in their inventory. the inventory cars are discounted a few thousand dollars. I wanted a black one with white interior…but the ‘in stock’ cars that were discounted didn’t have exactly what I wanted at the time so I bought the white on white…which is still beautiful. As financing was going through I still was checking their inventory daily-and it changed daily… my black on white one became available-it was too late for me to change as financing was locked on the white on white. Basically, what I’m saying is-if the color combo in inventory isn’t there, wait a few days and it may become available and you can save money rather than custom ordering and having to wait a month or two.

3) Right now there is a $7500 tax credit. you won’t get it right away, but if you put that towards your loan, its a huge chunk to pay off the vehicle. There are exclusions based off of income. See link for more details: https://www.tesla.com/support/incentives#new-vehicles

FINANCIALS: I won’t gatekeep my financials on this. The car listed for $41,240, but because it was a car in their inventory, it was discounted to $38,970. I put $4500 down as recommended in the Tesla app. If I put that $7500 tax credit towards the loan, I will only owe $26,970 on a $40k car after 6 months of ownership.

TAXES: Something I didn’t check into was taxes on the vehicle. In the state of Texas, Tesla can NOT charge tax on the vehicle. That gets charged at the time of registration when you go to the DMV/Tax office. So be prepared to pay 6.25% of the vehicles purchase price when you go in for your plates.

PURCHASE AN AT HOME CHARGER: I purchased my charger after the fact. I just figured I would go to my local Bucees and charge the car when needed. While it is relaxing to sit back, watch Netflix and eat snacks, It’s not realistic to do every few days. It only takes about 25 minutes to charge to 80% which is enough, (charging from 80% to 100% takes a bit longer) it gets old quickly.

PEOPLES ASSUMPTIONS WHEN YOUR IN A TESLA:

*I obviously didn’t buy a Tesla because I’m a tree hugging save the earth type. I bought it because of the technology (I can be driven to work), quick acceleration, and the new Z wasn’t out yet for me to be able to buy. In Texas at least, I’ll be sitting at a charging station with my fellow teslas, and dudes in diesels will ‘roll coal’ on us. I want to make a video about this to let them know I also have a diesel and 3 cars without catalytic converters and to stop rolling coal-it shows off their little pp’s. (can you tell this frustrates me the most?)

*People also assume you have money. I did this cheaply and have racecars to pay for. So when I called around to see how much things like window tint would cost-it was astronomical. I ended up going to a shop I had gone to before in McKinney called Pro Window Tinting. Pepe owns and operates and his wife comes in sometimes to get phone calls and emails. They teach you on the different levels of tint and ceramic vs non ceramic, and offer reasonable prices.

TINT ALL THE WINDOWS: -Even the windshield. Before any other modifications, tint everything. There is a lot of glass and in the summer it’s like a freaking sauna in there. You will save on your battery power by using the AC less. (get the ceramic tint to Block out UV’s).

I bought the car on a Tuesday and by Thursday we were driving it from Texas to Wyoming.

When you put your destination into the GPS, it automatically calculates where the charging stations are along the way and how long to stay at each one to complete your trip in the most efficient way. From the Dallas area to Denver we stopped at 5 charging stations… charging anxiety is real and I didn’t like to go under 20% charge. Each stop was about 20-30 minutes and consisted of lunch/dinners, rest stops with shops, or the hotels themselves having charging parking spots.

What about PIKES PEAK?

On the way back from Wyoming we stopped at Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs. I had like 40% charge at the base of the mountain and wasn’t sure if that was enough so we charged to about 80% and continued up the mountain… 40% would’ve been enough if your wondering, I’ll get to why in a sec.

This is when I started documenting mileage, This wasn’t at the base of the mountain, but it was before the ‘official’ entrance to Pikes Peak. I had 155 miles remaining.

When we neared the top there was 130 miles remaining. This would be the lowest mileage I would have on the rest of the journey.

These photos are just to show just how beautiful mid June at the top of Pikes Peak is. Such a nice break from the 114 degree heat index we would be returning to in Texas.

By the time we got the the VERY bottom of the mountain, the regenerative braking had replenished all the miles we used on the way up, plus gave me an extra 5 miles. I was super impressed-remember, at the start of the mountain we were at 155 miles?

The other cool thing, when you’re at a mid point on the way down the mountain they have a break check… people ride their brakes on the way down and they get really hot and eventually brake fade becomes no brakes, hence this safety check point. With a Tesla, they don’t check because of this regenerative braking, your brakes will not get hot.

Overall

I saw a lot of Teslas going up and down the mountain, almost as many as Subarus! (Colorado Joke). As far as the road trip in general- I would certainly do it again, your mindset has to be different though. Enjoy the journey, pick a show on Netflix or whatever streaming service you use, and expect it to take just a scouch longer-but you will be just as happy and less fatigued when you get to your destination since the car can do most of the driving for you.

The only bad thing that happened to the car on the trip was a rock hit the windshield, I have the Tesla Insurance because it was significantly cheaper than my regular car insurance. Tesla gave me a $1000 deductible, I didn’t know this until I tried to file a glass claim. They had discounted the new glass with install for $770.00. So that’s going to have to wait a bit.