Bye Bye, Blue Car

SF Bay Area

Model 3

Saying goodbye to our old friend was a sad day indeed. My daughter cried and hugged the car, then cried some more. Our dear Model 3 was our first ever EV, and our leap into the world of Tesla. While the Bay Area is overflowing with Teslas, this one was very special to us. That’s not just because she has a rare Alcantera headliner, or an early version coming off the Fremont line… but because she carried us across many states, mountains and drama of our meme-lord Elon Musk. I feel like we owned a piece of Tesla history and got to participate in the dream that is the Tesla mission. Alas, we can’t take her to Japan, so we found her a new home with a trusty friend who subscribes to the Tesla core values and mission. We are comforted to know she will be taken care of, and enjoy many more years of bringing joy to her passengers.

Things we learned from our first Tesla

Taking the plunge into EVs was concerning at first. Will the battery last? What about the build quality from a new car company? Can it be easily serviced? Here is what we found.

  • Range anxiety went away when super chargers became ubiquitous in California.
  • Charging at home and never going to a gas station is quite a lot of time and money savings.
  • Batteries from Tesla will last a long time. Even after 4+ years and 45k miles, we still had over 90% battery capacity and road trips were easy.
  • There is no maintenance, no oil changes, no radiator flushes, no belts to replace. Just slap on some new tires once in a while and that’s it!
  • Autopilot/FSD is magical at first… and simply safer over the long run. It’s not perfect, but I can’t wait for the day we can sleep on the car and have it arrive at our destination.
  • While there are many misconceptions about EVs, zero emissions and being powered by our solar panels makes this a no-brainer investment towards fighting climate change. There are numerous studies now about the environmental impact of EVs, and the EPA agrees.

Will we buy another Tesla?

In reality we do have a Model Y that we are keeping in our garage, so we will continue to own a Tesla for when we return. While we’ll look at what’s available in the market for our next car purchase, we will definitely stick with EVs and we know what’s at the top of the list. Once you go EV, you don’t go back! And a person can dream, that by buying a product that we can advance to a more sustainable earth and leave a better world for our daughter.

Bye bye, blue car… you will always be in our hearts!