First time tesla buyer

Buy used for sure, if you're planning FSD get HW4, buy one with some miles to pay the depreciated price tag. And enjoy! Have a place to reliably charge and enjoy.

What does fsd and hw4 mean? Around how many miles do you recommend?

Figure out how you are going to charge the car before you buy it.

It would be at a charging station. There’s one 10 minutes from our house.

Teslas have two computer systems. One runs the infotainment--the screen(s) in the car and your interaction with them--called the MCU computer. The other processes the camera data with the goal of being able to drive the car. Originally it was a chip from a company called MobileEye that basically did lane-keep cruise control, a feature they called AutoPilot. Retroactively, that's referred to as HW1. Tesla later switched to an Nvidia chip and called it HW2. Tesla claimed that this chip would be sufficient for the car to drive itself with a software feature they called Full Self Driving (FSD), which was an optional purchase--until recently, when it became a monthly subscription. It quickly became apparent that the computational power of this chip wasn't sufficient though. This computer was later improved and called HW2.5. Then they designed their own chip and came out with HW3. Starting in 2024, they came out with a new, more powerful system called HW4. The latest version of FSD (version 14, aka V14) on HW4 is actually quite impressive and is probably a better driver than most people, but it technically requires human supervision still. Tesla claims that FSD will one day be unsupervised, but that will need something with more computation power than HW4. Vehicles on HW2.x can be upgraded to HW3, but not HW4 as of now. The latest version of FSD (V12) on HW3 is good according to some, and not so good according to most. It is expected that every vehicle that has purchased FSD will be upgraded to whatever hardware is needed when unsupervised FSD is realized, but in the meantime, Tesla has been stripping FSD on the used cars they sell. It's still available as a subscription on them though. As for how many miles.. well, no one can predict the future, but Tesla used to warranty their batteries for unlimited miles, but they've switched to 100 or 150k miles, depending on the model. and there's a reason for that.

They only have unlimited miles for 8 years though so it balances out

Is it affordable? Charging at home is often half the cost or even less than other charging. If you can find the cost per kw of the charger, and divide that by about 3.5, that will give you an approximate cost per mile for electric. (Assuming 285 watts per mile) Where I am in the US, home charging is about $0.15/kw at home, but $0.33/kw or more at superchargers.

If at all possible, charge at home even if all you have ia a standard 120v outlet. Partially because home rates are so much lower than Supercharger rates. But more importantly because it is so convienent to not have to go to a station to charge. A standard 20 amp will add 30 to 50 miles range overnight. You may be supised how much of your normal day to day driving that will cover. A 20 amp standard plug is what I have used for the last 5 years and it works for me 90% of the time. Although I absolutely love both my Teslas I don't recommend an EV unless you have either a home or work charging option.

If you don’t plan to subscribe to FSD for $99/mo, buying a HW4 is less of a priority. Because HW3 has pretty much stopped getting FSD updates. Although V14 Lite is supposed to come out in Q2.

Edit your post with why you want a Tesla and how you plan to use it. Hard for anyone to give advice that will truly help you, without the context. Lots of people will say: * Get HW4! * Get AWD! and that's about it. lol

And if it's not a supercharger, it may be 55c or more per kw. Recently, on NJ Turnpike, they ripped out all superchargers and installed Applegreen's own. Now instead of 20+ ports, there's two. And instead of 30c or so, it's 55c.

Charging using the gas station model (go somewhere to charge) defeats one of the key cost & convenience advantages of an EV.

Get HW4 and as new a car as possible, S is the best but going away so get one soon. Make sure it’s under warranty. If not an S, 2024+ 3P

If you own your own home, install a charger. You won't look back. I charge at work for free, but when I stared 2.5 years ago we had 18 chargers. If you rent, lobby to have chargers installed. Then, at work, they turned off access to half of them rather than fix an issue...now three more don't work. However, the number of electric cars in the lot is climbing steadily, someone even bought a Cybertruck. Some of our most reductive anti progressive people are realizing "that IS a better mouse trap". The Cybertruck, it is growing on me, especially after the guy had it wrapped with a stealth blue/black matte finish, it transformed the truck. If the bed was environment controlled ac/heat/dog/camp, I'd go buy one. I installed two chargers at home and now other than my towing vehicle, we are all electric. The sheer time and hassle saved is worth the expense.

Buy used directly from Tesla and make sure there are no cosmetic defects when you pick it up. Don't be afraid to let them know.l because they will fix it before you take it home. Prioritize a long range model over performance or standard range to prevent range concerns, especially if you aren't charging at home. Charge during non peak times if relying on supercharging. Tint the windows immediately after purchase because the car gets hot easily. Compare auto insurance rates to get cheapest deal.

If you have a garage and possibly laundry hooked up in there on a single level of course there’s tons of ways to charge at home for much less. I bought an adapter that plugs in the dryer and splits off to the EV plug on one side and the dryer plug on the other. Upgraded 30 Amp Dryer Y Splitter... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F84KPYYJ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share Romaa Level 2 for Tesla Mobile... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D97NVBZ3?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

https://preview.redd.it/b2fq2rn2t3mg1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb7108710bebe9d674fce7a9fbf1ad79ed93a67e

Primecomtech Tesla EV Mobile... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN7BZ6S4?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Well that sucks. No wonder I didn't get routed to anything on the NJT when I passed through on my way to Boston.

But directly from Tesla so they can fix everything under warranty before you pick up, and I believe they give you an additional 10k miles of warranty on top of what's left. The only downside is you don't get to see what you are buying until you get to the dealership.

I advise you to use advice in future

Not worth it

I don’t recommend buying an EV unless you have access to home charging

Buy a used 2024 Model 3 Highland with Hardware 4 - eventually, you’ll want (and love) FSD

Some charging 90p a kW in the UK

PLENTY of posts and videos online for you to research yourself!

Full self drive is $99/month in the US. Definitely worth trying out. Buy a 2024 if you want HardWare4. Or if you want cheap as possible HW3 is fine, but Full Self Drive is not nearly as impressive on HW3.

If home charging isn't an option for you, I would seriously rethink your decision to buy an EV. That's a very large portion of the appeal of an EV in the first place. Relying on superchargers is expensive and inconvenient.

This right here. Buy a Hybrid if you can't charge at home or at work.

Depends on how much you drive really. If you have a good station nearby and don't drive all that much, Supercharging is not that big of a deal. If you run it down and charge off peak hours, cost can be manageable and 20 minutes will get you right. But yes, these are definitely questions you want to ask yourself before you buy.