Transitioning from a Commodore to an EV

[Paul Smedley]

As requested by a few folks, I've started this thread to share experiences in transitioning from a Commodore to an EV (in my case, a Tesla Model 3 RWD).

As some background, I worked for Holden at the Assembly Plant for just over 16 years, in a variety of Quality roles, culminating in being the Plant Quality Manager for the final three years of the plant's operation.

As our ZB was on the verge of being out of warranty, we started looking at alternatives (refer https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/what-to-buy-to-replace-the-zb.295319/) and ended up settling on a Tesla Model 3 RWD.

A few reasons for the Tesla:

• I decided I couldn't justify buying another ICE car. We have solar and a battery already, and it made sense *to me* to go electric
• Given availability, it was the best alternative *for us* - we prefer a sedan not an SUV
• It was in our price range, and *just* qualified for the SA EV rebate ($3k)
• The changes to FBT for EV's meant the whole lease payment is pre-tax, which generated significant savings.

The ordering process is.... different. Order via the website, get updates via the App and Email. I ordered in mid-November 2022, and was allocated a car in mid-Feb. Due to major port congestion, I finally got a delivery appointment in early April, and received the car today (May 2nd).

A few day one comments:

• I was reminded again how nice it was to not have to do the walk from aftersales to finance to whatever in a dealership as part of the ordering process.
• The lack of comms from Tesla was annoying, other than monitoring forums, it was hard to know what was happening with the order. In fairness, given my previous employment, I had extra visibility of the ordering process that most others wouldn't have had, so maybe I was spoiled.
• The delivery experience was pretty good - no champagne, no ribbons - but they walk you around the car, and help you pair your phone (which can act as a key), and adjust all the relevant settings. No pressure to get out, you have all the time you need to ensure you're happy with the car.
• At pickup, the cameras aren't calibrated, so things like cruise control are inoperative. A good excuse to go for a bit of a cruise, and after 10-15min, the cameras were calibrated
• I LOVE the car - acceleration is fantastic - I think the base RWD is 0-100 in 5.9 seconds - the long range and Performance are both AWD and quicker.
• The level of customisation is pretty cool - there are lots of features I'm still discovering.
• BIG software update after connecting to wifi when we got home - great that new features/fixes can be deployed OTA.
• Regenerative braking takes some getting used to - basically as soon as you take your foot off the accelerator, energy recovery starts and the car slows down to a stop very quickly, so you need to 'feather' the accelerator right up to a stop sign or traffic light.

More than happy to answer any questions here, and will continue to post updates. I'm not interested at all in getting into a debate on the respective merits of ICE vs EV. If Holden were around, I'd almost certainly have bought a new one - but they're not. For me - the model 3 was the closest equivalent in terms of comfort and size.

 

[Paul Smedley]

Forgot to mention, the ZB must have known it was going.... Sunday night the engine fan kept running after the engine was switched off. Cleared a DTC last night for a thermostat fault - today I got in it take it to the dealer to sell, and the battery was dead flat, and I had to get roadside assist out to jumpstart it!!

 

[Immortality]

Cheers for posting.

Some first had EV ownership experience will be nice.

 

[Smitty]

curious to see what you think....
as a fleet manager at work, I have had several for test drives

hated the fact they don't go far .. Melbourne to Ballarat and return?
approx 130km there and ... half way back, it says NUP, stop and charge me
90 mins later, we have enough for about to get home

Complain to Tesla region sales manager... oh they all do that at highway speeds
and
yes.. DEF, the braking takes getting used to ! You need to be careful with a truck
a large 40 wheel B-Double up ya ar*se otherwise he will be in your back seat!
I kept the throttle pedal down and left foot braked and when finally stopped, lifted
the accel pedal. Watch this..

 

[Paul Smedley]

Range doesn't bother us - our holiday house is ~50km away and we installed a 32A socket down there as well. 500km range is similar to the ZB - but a damn site cheaper to charge.

Average fill on the ZB is $80 - and probably for 3/4 tank.

Assuning the 60 kWh battery on the M3 is completely empty:
Charging on solar - forgoing $0.10/kWh FIT - $6 to charge
Charging using offpeak power - $0.25/kWh - $15 to charge
Charging using peak power - $0.40/kWh - $25 to charge

The Tesla UMC (which is no longer included with vehicles, I just scraped in to get one included) comes by default with a 10A and 15A tail. There is an aftermarket 32A which uses a 32A 3 pin or 32A 5 pin single phase socket for charging.

It cost me about $200 for the tail and $400 for the sparky to isntall the socket.

With the 32A tail, charging time from empty is ~ 8 hrs - ie overnight.

We could have probably gotten by with the 10A - but it's nearly 24hrs for a full charge - which is inconvenient.

Superchargers are MUCH faster.

Gratuitous car collection photo attached.

 

[MrBags]

You go 50km for a holiday? I did that twice a day for work for 13 years lol

 

[Paul Smedley]

Hahah yep - in Radelaide, 50km gets us to the edge of the McLaren Vale wine region and picturesque beaches!

 

[Derekthetree]

Congrats, enjoy the new car and finding out all the functionality it has.

Just keep an eye on the steering wheel!

 

[Paul Smedley]

Whilst I think about it, I did a spreadsheet yesterday to show the savings from the NL (with no FBT) vs funding the purchase through a home loan.

The savings totalled around $20k over 3 years - which is VERY significant. A link to the spreadsheet is here. Row 6 is somewhat unique to my situation, as it's meant to capture paying the proceeeds of selling our old car off of the home loan, which reduces the interest payable.

This doesn't take into account that the 37c tax bracket will be abolished in July 2024 (assuming the Stage 3 tax cuts go ahead), but it's still broadly indicative of the savings from a Novated Lease on an EV.

 

[VS 5.0]

Did Tesla take the trade in or did you sell the ZB to another dealer ?