You’ll need to consider driver demographics as some models are men’s other women’s. For the large brands that may even out over their entire range but probably not for Tesla with its few models, I seem to recall that they target the upper middle class.
Teslas are high-powered and expensive, which selects for men. Also, early adopters are usually male. Men are also more likely to be reckless and dangerous drivers.
And of course there’s the aspect of miles per car driven, which may or may not differ for Teslas. The relative scarcity of charging points probably favors ownership in densely populated areas.
Model 3 and Y are around 45-60K USD, and 300-500 HP.
Some years ago that was high-powered and expensive. But remember, it’s the US car market.These days, the average price of a new car is 47K.
And the average horsepower of new cars (cars+SUVs) is 325 HP.
Apparently, it’s the drivers. Young men have a higher accident rate, including deadly accidents. If 70% of drivers are really younger than 34 YO, no surprises about the death rate per miles driven. That’s how we are/were.
Eighty-three percent of drivers were men, compared to 49% of drivers for all other vehicles. Tesla owners are also typically younger; around 70% of drivers are 34 or younger, falling primarily into the millennial and Gen Z generations.
I’m sure it needs some maintenance (control arms are notorious on the early models) but purely from a price-point, that’s a “perfect” first car for a newly minted driver out of driving school…
Of course, due to the fact that this thing was built for American roads and not German Autobahns, it’s totally unsafe to drive above 130km/h - much less its top-speed of double that…
The high HP helps in regenerating energy and it makes the car more fun to drive - which helps adoption…
Halve the price tag and I’d agree to “appropriate”, I consider anything seriously above four digits too much for beginner drivers. And don’t even get me started on obscenities for young drivers like full casko, there’s a reason why their premiums are what they are.
The drivetrain of these Model 3 is built for 1m miles, that’s not the problem (though apparently an oil-change is advised after about 160k km).
The problem is the suspension.
There’s a cottage industry of 3rd-party companies that “improve” Model 3s and Model Ys in this regard.
I have heard a problem with Tesla on German autobahns is the motor gets hot at high speeds and so automatically slows down, it might just be an urban myth.
Mmm, sorry. There had been an explosion in horsepower in the last 15 years. Numbers don’t make sense anymore. Hopefully, brakes and suspension developed with similar performance.
“The lights get clogged with snowfall, then the bits that melt freeze and create a sort of ice wall blocking the lights,” one owner wrote in a post on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum. “This can’t be removed without a hammer (my scraper couldn’t).”
I have 2years leasing for Tesla Model Y with gowago ending in a couple of months. I did my down payment and monthly payments regularly. And I have my residual value in my contract as 27k chf. However, gowago reverted me and said that the car’s market value is much more than the residual hence they offer me at 33k chf! I brought this to Tesla Switzerland and they told me that they hear this first time in their life and all team and manager agreed that it should be residual value as in my contract. After they have checked this with gowago and the bank again, they told me that this the contract between myself and the bank so they cannot interrupt more. However, they all marketed & told me that the residual value is my option to buy while I was leasing the car which they still say all the people leasing now!
I am trying to escalate that inside of Tesla and bring this to the attention of country manager or whatsoever. But I don’t know what else I should do here. Kindly asking for your opinion on this case.
Sorry for asking the obvious, but what does the contract says?
Also, it seems you signed the contract with a bank. So, gowago is only an intermediary, just like a car dealership.
It is unusual that a bank wants a car back. They like money, not big objects occupying space on their parking lot. The bank already won with the contract about to end. So, try contacting the bank directly.
This issues seems to have cropped up much more post-covid when the value of 2nd hand cars increased and some lessees found that their contract had provisions to charge a higher amount than the originally estimated residual value.
I also leased my Tesla with Gowago when Tesla had a 0% finance deal. I’ve got two years left and its already clear that I will be way over my allotted mileage, which shouldn’t matter as I will pay off the residual and either keep it or sell it.
So given what you’ve said it will be interesting to see if they try and pull this move on me, especially as the residual value should be lower than estimated given the odometer reading.
I’ve had a quick look at the contract and cannot see any mention of the fact that the residual price will be recalculated based on market values. Surely if that were the case and EV prices tank in 2026, I could buy it at a hefty discount. They can’t have it both ways.
