Ignoring the Politics When Buying a Car

The 2024 Tesla Model 3 starts at $38,900 (kbb)

In the modern era politics infects (infests?) even minor decisions. Artists speak out on controversial issues, and even if their books, movies, or music are critically acclaimed, some segment of the market will avoid their products simply because it despises their politics.

Not seeing a specific movie or reading a specific book has no lasting impact on a consumer's life. But will he let politics be the deciding factor on what may be the best value on a car? Car critic Dan Neil cites the example of his sister.

When it came to buying a replacement, safety was her top priority. Who makes the safest car on the market? she asked. I warned that she might not like the answer.

Tesla. Tesla models have earned five-star ratings from regulators in every global market, the highest cumulative scores in the industry. These marks capture Teslas’ crash resilience, their inherent stability (low center of gravity) and advanced driver-assist systems. Tesla’s standard suite of optical sensors and automatic braking would have at least mitigated the collision that took out her Kia.

“How about a Model 3?” I suggested. Kathy rolled her eyes. “I will never buy a car from that man,” she said, referring to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. “You’ve never even met the man,” I said, knowing that wouldn’t help.

Last week Kathy and her husband, Bill, signed a three-year lease on a 2024 Tesla Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive: $331 per month, with a $4,400 down payment. Their modest monthly includes a $7,500 federal tax credit, a 15,000-mile annual mileage allowance and $1,000 incentive from Tesla, since expired...

She admitted it was a case of enlightened self-interest. “It’s just that when you look at how much car and how much money,” she explained, “you’d be crazy to buy anything else.”

...This is the first U.S.-market Tesla to rely on lithium iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are broadly superior to nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cells in cost, safety, climatization, charging speed and durability. My sister’s car extracts 272 miles of range from a comparatively small battery, a reported 57.5-kWh of usable storage. At a Tesla Supercharger it can add up to 175 miles of range in 15 minutes. If you were waiting for the proverbial game to change, pay attention...

Build quality: Kathy’s car was one of 32 delivered by the local Tesla center that day, handed over with little ceremony by hustling Tesla team members. In other words, a random sample. It looked perfect to me. Door and panel gaps, window glazing and trim, fit and finish? All flush and razor straight...

Charging [at home] at overnight rates, roughly 10 cents per kWh, it will cost $5.85 to fully recharge the battery, or 2 cents per mile. Even if my arithmetic is 100% wrong, that’s still only 4 cents per mile. Isn’t it?

At $38,900 the basic Tesla Model 3 is cheaper than the last two internal-combustion cars that I purchased in 2018 and 2019. If I were in the market for an EV, and even if I found Elon Musk's recent antics upsetting (I don't), I'd buy a Model 3.