Todays post is written for car buyers in the market who are looking to buy a new car above $30K or Tesla investors who are bullish or bearish on $TSLA stock.
For potential car buyers, I really hope that reading this article gives you that extra push to visit a local Tesla store for a quick test drive. One test drive will really help you understand why $TSLA owner clubs across our great nation are so active and passionate about their cars and the company. Hint: it is about cars’ performance and experience and less about saving environment.
For Tesla investors, I also hope that this also gives them an opportunity to visit a Tesla store and try test drive. Many people think that “cars are cars” and investors are no different. But, it is very fascinating though that there are so many bearish investors who have never driven a Tesla.
A TEST DRIVE IS FREE – I REALLY ENCOURAGE EVERYBODY TO TRY – I ACTUALLY JUST WALKED IN AND GOT ON TEST DRIVE WITHIN 15 MINS WITHOUT RESERVATION!
To be fair, I am not a car expert and this is from the point of view of a normal guy. Obviously it may be positively biased because I have been bullish on Tesla and am a $TSLA investor.
PANEL GAP ISSUES APPEAR TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY RESOLVED VS 2020
I bought 2021 Model 3 Long Range. I thought that Model 3, just like other Tesla, has been notorious for panel gaps or poor finishing based on my review of various blogs or YouTube review videos – all of which have been extremely helpful for me in terms of making decision to buy the car.
Overall, my car is in EXCELLENT shape, except for a small chip on my rear view mirror. For this, I just took a picture and uploaded to Tesla service via Tesla application on my phone. In a few days, Tesla sent mobile service member to fix the issue – it was very easy and took only 15-20 mins of my time Door-to-Door. I had great conversation with my service guy – overall, excellent experience.
I REALLY FEEL LIKE I AM IN THE FUTURE WHEN I AM IN THE CAR
Tesla Model 3 has extremely simple design – it was not just for aesthetics, but also for cost savings to bring the price down. It is really as simple as it can get – they removed so much out of “regular car” and the control is all done through voice command (it is very smooth – better than Cortana or Siri) or the screen in the middle. This allows Tesla to reduce cost by taking out unnecessary materials AND having simpler manufacturing process (more cars within same amount of time).
However, the beauty of the design is its elegance – obviously it is subjective, but so far, my friends have absolutely loved the interior and are pleasantly surprised by it. They are also surprised by another thing – SHEER PERFORMANCE OF THE VEHICLE.
THIS IS THE NEW ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE – AMAZING DRIVING EXPERIENCE
I have Model 3 LR – I did not purchase the acceleration package (extra $2,000 gives you the over-the-air software update). There are two modes of acceleration – 1) chill mode and 2) standard mode. Chill mode drives like Mercedes-Benz = soft driving. And standard mode drives like BMW – firm driving with crisp cornering (You can probably tell I prefer BMW over Mercedes-Benz).
In other words, Tesla gives you experience of two different fine driving experiences with price of one – except Tesla is much faster than cars of similar pricing in either brands.
As an electric vehicle, torque gives very fast acceleration even at low speed – it is very fun to drive around neighborhood. You no longer need go to freeway to enjoy driving.
CAN’T FORGET ABOUT POTENTIAL COST SAVINGS
I live in California, which gives particular benefit for Tesla owners. They are
1) California state EV subsidy lowers the cost of ownership
2) California has very high tax on gasoline – making ICE vehicles more expensive to drive around than EV – I make sure to charge my car overnight because electricity is cheaper at night
3) Tesla auto-insurance is available in California – more options are better for customers. For me, Tesla auto insurance was 50% cheaper than other competitors.
SENTRY MODE REALLY HELPED ME BY CATCHING HIT-AND-RUN
Sentry mode is Tesla’s car security system – it automatically saves down the video footages around the vehicle starting from one minute prior to the impact / event. There is a red dot to indicate the timing of impact when you are reviewing the video in the car.
For me, someone did a hit-and-run on my car, but the license plate was captured very nicely on the video that was recorded by Sentry Mode. This helps me feel A LOT BETTER when I have to streetpark – something that can turn into nightmare.
SO HOW DOES THIS TRANSLATE TO INVESTING IN $TSLA
It is very difficult to not like $TSLA stock when you have tried driving one Tesla vehicle. For me, it will be VERY difficult to go back – although it could be possible that there won’t be many ICE car manufacturers remaining by the time I would be back in the market to buy a car – so I would HAVE to stick with EV. For EV, I really enjoyed my experience with Tesla – and it could probably lead to even lower customer acquisition cost for Tesla while each customer moves up the price curve in $TSLA’s product line up.
In summary, I like $TSLA for below
- Continuously improving customer acquisition cost,
- Loyal customer base that will move up the product price curve going forward (improving and durable customer life time value),
- High organic growth (geographic and product expansion),
- Very high, sustainable, and natural barrier to entry through vertical integration, and call option on renewable energy – I discussed this in detail in here
All above indicate for me that $TSLA would continue to take a strong long position in my portfolio.
Hope you enjoyed reading my experience with my Model 3 and this helps your investment process!
*not investment advice.
