Justin Smith’s first ever brand-new car has cost him $85,000 – but he will never again have to worry about the price of petrol.
The firefighter, who is based out at New Plymouth Airport, drives a Tesla Model 3, while his wife, Sharmayne, has also gone electric by buying a Nissan Leaf.
The couple said they went green for the sake of their 10-year-old daughter.
“I look at it as an investment in our daughter’s future,” Justin said. “I don’t want my daughter growing up in a world that’s dying.”
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As well as the environmental benefits, the pair said ditching their Mazda 3 and Toyota had brought financial gains.
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“We ran the numbers when we first started looking back last year, and just based on the prices back then we were going to save about $9500 a year on petrol,” Justin said.
“Now that’s probably gone closer to maybe about $10,000 a year, so in eight years the Tesla will have paid for itself.”
There are about 5000 Teslas in the country, although in Taranaki, where only 27 were registered last year, they are still something of a novelty.
Justin saved up to buy the long-range model, which he has driven to Auckland on a single charge.
His white model 3 looks like any high-end sports car, but there is no engine under the bonnet.
Instead, electric motors sit at the front and back, while in the middle, under the seats, lies a battery that makes the vehicle weigh 1.8 tonnes.
“It hugs the road like nothing else,” he said.
VANESSA LAURIE/Stuff
Justin says he has driven his Tesla from New Plymouth to Auckland on a single charge.
Other than the sound of tires on the road surface, the Tesla makes no noise – although a built-in speaker gives the option to replicate the sound of an engine when pedestrians are about.
Cameras on the front, back and sides can record every moment of a journey, and are used by the onboard computer in cruise mode to ensure the car keeps a distance from other vehicles when in cruise mode.
Inside, a large iPad-type screen has replaced the speedometer, clock and rev counter found on a conventional dashboard, and also doubles as a sat nav.
Justin bought his Tesla three months too early, and spent $5000 too much to qualify for the Government’s electric vehicle (EV) subsidy.
“But,” he said, “there’s no ongoing costs with EVs, really, bar getting your brakes done, the pads, and the tires, because there’s no other moving parts.”
The couple say their cars have added less than $40 a month to their home power bill.
Sharmayne charges the Leaf once a week to take the battery from 20% power to 80%, and this costs her $5.80 each time.
As for the Tesla, which he picked up last October, Justin said: “I normally charge it when it gets down to about 30% to get it back up to 80%. I only charge it once a fortnight, and it only costs $8.40.”
However, he did use the New World charging station when his car battery was at 19 per cent power. He spent about $16 dollars to get the charge to the halfway point, and then drove home to finish the job.
Sharmayne said although the cars involve a high outlay, “you can justify it by what you would normally be paying for petrol”.
“If you are borrowing to make that payment, your petrol money is your repayments, so you come out neutral.”