I’m not a car person honestly. You can’t ask me much about a gas vehicle without me fumbling in my head to understand. However, I understand tech and for it to be on wheels only amplifies my interest in it.
So far things with ownership of an EV is a bit different than most. Going out of my way to charge and planning out errands when battery is a bit low. Below 20 percent sentry doesn’t work so I always try to keep it above 20 percent at all times. My charging situation hasn’t changed much. I still have mostly 60/40 on charging. 60 percent at home and 40 percent super charging. This changes when I go for long trips but I’m so grateful for Tesla’s charging network.
I do wish I could possible have level 2 charging at home. Level 1 charging is painfully slow and needs to be left over night and maybe even all weekend after a week of running errands and 2-3 times a week traveling to the office or picking up husband from work. Living in NYC everything is close by so charging happens maybe 1-2 times a week. We also try our best to charge from home cause it’s cheaper and with smart charge rewards we earn some of that back! Average we get about 10-15 dollars back on it so it pays for some of our super charging sessions. If you’re an EV owner living in NYC and you charge at home or even at work. Check out Smart Charge NY and earn points using my referral to sign up. It’s easy and tracks your charging usage to earn rewards. It pays you through PayPal and uses the email you sign up with to connect to your PayPal email and sent payment.
Now everyone hears about cost savings and fuel savings. It’s truly a mix when it comes to owning a Tesla since it’s price is hard to justify. Personally I see it as an investment. I do plan on keeping Baymax for a while which offsets the cost every year that I own it. On paper I’m still spending more than our CRV that I owned previous. But the cost savings for us adds up to almost 700 a year. Based on 11,710 miles that we’ve driven this year and the average payments from smart charge rewards.
Overall in the next 5 years the cost will be more. With car insurance which varies constantly. The difference would be 25-30k. So it’s more of a personal choice for us. I love that this is one of the safest and cleaner choices for our family. Autopilot has been a good partner for those long drives upstate. It’s fun to drive and the over the air updates are great. It all comes down to personal choice.
The white seats have held up great but it does get frustrating cleaning it since I dislike seeing dirty. With some warm water and mild soap it mostly comes off. Plus I use an interior cleaning spray. Overall it’s not too bad.
Hope you enjoyed this update! Feel free to follow Baymax on Instagram: @teslabaymax_nyc and Twitter: @teslabaymaxnyc
A: Cause it’s cool. Haha kidding (mostly). I like the idea of investing in a greener future. Adding on the car has been named one of the safest vehicles and the acceleration was nice. I couldn’t help but feel attracted to making the purchase.
Q: Is it better than gas?
A: Depends on the person. I like the quietness when driving long distances with only the music playing. Also, lack of oil changes means spending less time on maintenance. It’s a personal preference really…
Q: Have you really saved money?
A: Again this might be a personal preference. At the time we purchased the car. The difference in numbers was about 350-400 dollars a month. Currently with the gas surge according to “Charge stats” we are saving somewhere between 130-158 dollars a month. Along with Smart charge rewards we’ve been averaging about 10-25 dollars a month in rewards which is put towards supercharging or our electricity bill. The difference with current NYC gas prices is about 165 dollars extra a month to own an EV. I can only imagine in other places where people’s commutes are longer. I want Baymax around for as long as possible so I would say in about 4-6 years time. I would see the possible savings. (My referral link for SmartCharge Rewards to earn an extra 25,000 bonus points which equals 25 dollars!)
Q: White seats with kids!? How?
A: Don’t let them drink anything besides water. I occasionally take the car seats out and my husband vacuums the car. I wipe it down with warm mild soap water and use a microfiber clothe. Between the cleaning I have water wipes to clean off if I see anything. We’ve had Baymax since November 2021 and the seats are as bright as ever.
Q: How do you charge?
A: Whenever possible I charge from home which benefits me with the Smartcharge rewards but occasionally I’ll supercharge when I can’t since I rent at the home and the driveway isn’t mine. It’s trickle charge (level 1 charging) so overnight I charge about 10-15 percent at a time. I try to connect the car when it’s 60 percent or higher. Any chance to charge I’m thankful for regardless.
Q: Do you like it?
A: I have to say that I love Baymax. It’s a fun car to drive and my dream car for a while. Living in NYC it wasn’t necessary for us to have a car. But after having kids and them being so young. Traveling became difficult. Our Honda CRV was a nice first car and I enjoyed the trunk space I admit. Of course, there’s always it’s pros and cons. But I wouldn’t trade it (unless for another Tesla. Another Model Y?) if we ever happen to own a house in the future.
Q: Is it worth it?
A: Personal preference but yes to me it is worth it. I see it as an investment and a better tomorrow for a greener future. Safety comes first for us. And without much of a different cost wise. I would say so. There have been issues going around with Tesla service, panel gaps, and maintenance issues. But I think that comes with the territory at times. But I do agree with how much money is being spent for this vehicle. I wouldn’t want to settle for anything less or too troublesome.
Q: Isn’t charging difficult?
A: It’s interesting at times. It can be another errand at times. Needing permission to park in the driveway to charge, super charging when I’m unable to, or having to run a charge as an errand. Luckily, now where I supercharge is close to our medical doctors, 10 min away from my job, the gym we attend to is super close by, playground for the kids, places to eat and there’s stores to shop at. So lately it feels like a family outing or good day at the gym. Road trip wise we need to stop anyway for the kids so I don’t see it as a hassle. Sure filling up a gas tank is quick if you’re traveling alone or with adults I suppose. But with children it’s inevitable we will stop for diaper changes and food. By the time it’s all said and done we are on the road again with 80-90 percent.
Phew! So these are the top questions I get about my Tesla Model Y so far. Others have been more of a quick response or teaching people how the car works and runs. Our Baymax officially has social media accounts! Follow if interested and of course my personal accounts will always be below. Stay sweet everyone!
This month makes 6 months since I went with my husband to pick up our Tesla Model Y we named Baymax. 6 months of ownership and I’m still in love. Husband doesn’t drive much but he has little complaints so far. We love it. It’s been lovely. But of course with it’s small faults.
Issues
I love wagon strollers. It fits both the kids. I can take them anywhere and it’s fun. The kids love it. 4 year old with diagnosed autism and a 1 year old. Both full of energy. I love the wagon strollers. But we ran into space issues. It’s difficult or damn near impossible to get our babytrends stroller wagon inside. I’ve debated the wonder wagon at this point. But not sure dimension wise if it would result in the same issue even though it folds. To fit the wagon we need to push the middle seats very forward. Car seats and all. It makes the front seats uncomfortable and have to find a comfortable position to drive beforehand. Takes a lot of planning. Unfortunately might have to give up the wagon for a smaller stroller. But we shall see if we get the wonder wagon (review on that when it happens. Yay)
Savings
As a New Yorker or living in the city. I don’t drive enough everyday. I work a hybrid schedule and run errands: groceries, appointments, pick ups, drop offs, occasional travels to nearby states. In this moment as I write this blog, I’ve put on 4,629 miles on the car. Monthly that would be about 711 miles. But in days to be more exact: 26.45 miles per day. We owned a CRV previously which on average gave us 27 mpg. Held about 14 gallons of gas. Average 370 miles we would get out of the Honda. I usually filled when it had 100 miles left. Every 2 weeks and spent 27 dollars at the time. Now with raised gas prices: 42 dollars. According to the Tesla App with their new updated I’ve supposedly saved about 98 dollars.
Current Charging Stats
Personally it’s more like 85 dollars but with the occasional road trip I can tell why the numbers would be off. Where I go I can plug into a family members home and let it trickle charge for the weekend. Saving more without supercharge. As you can see I tend to charge more at home which is slow but good for the weekend and the amount of driving I do. I would say the savings goes up since we use ConEds Smart Charge Rewards program.
If you don’t know what that is. It’s a program from ConEd for your EV where you can earn a bit of money back (goes to your PayPal account). It’s like cash back for EV. Use it towards your light bill and the amounts vary each month based on your usage. Average I get back somewhere between 10-17 dollars a month from home charging. The savings go up to 95-102 dollars or use that towards a super charging visit since it tends to be around 15-17 dollars for a 30-85 percent charge here. Whatever works for you. I love the program although it does need my Tesla account to access information. Not sure how I feel about that but I hope the savings are worth it. Here’s my referral link where you’ll get about 25,000 points which converts to 25 dollars your first month of trying the program!
Key Fob: Worth it?
I know the car uses our phones but sometimes it’s in my pocket or jacket. My hands are full. Or maybe I closed the app by accident. The keycard is confusing for the valet people sometimes. I figured why not the key fob. It’s pretty nice to have as back up in case anyone needs to drive the car for emergencies, opens the trunk and frunk, plus I can lock the car right away instead of waiting for a confirmation lock as I walk away. Worth it? Maybe not for everyone. But I have noticed the car unlocks much faster and more reliably than with phone only. Yes I’ve had moments I’m standing in front of Baymax. Trying to unlock and sentry mode is on. It’s like “hello I see you. Open up already” as soon take my phone out. It unlocks. Granted it doesn’t happen often but when it does. I’m stuck fumbling for my phone when I usually have my keys in hand. To me personally, worth it. But I know some people wouldn’t think so.
Tesla Key FobSide profileKeychain cover and accessories. AirTag included.
White Seats: Yay or Nay?
6 months is still early to tell for owning white seats. I personally LOVE the white seats. It appeals to me and of course I added the eye stickers so it looks like I’m sitting on a Baymax. It’s silly and fun. Kids love it. People see it and find it hilarious. Cleaning it has been easy as well. I use water wipes that I buy for my kids and wipe it down. Dry it off with bounty and call it a day. I don’t really eat or drink in the car so no stains that I’m worried about. I hardly wear jeans and if I do. They’re not new jeans, most of my jeans have been washed several times. Overall, white seats have been amazing for us even with both kids. They mainly eat puff snacks and things I can easily vacuum on cleaning day. Crumbs and dirt show more but a good vacuum easily makes everything disappear.
White Seats with Baymax
Charging in the City
Living in NYC, charging is well difficult and get out of the way. I say this because super chargers in the city tend to be in parking places where you have to pay on top of the charging costs. I personally find that a bit silly considering but understand it’s a business aspect. I mainly go to Yonkers in Ridgehill for supercharging if necessary. Free parking (for now) and it’s right to your left when you enter. Lots of teslas and it’s close to my office job. Mainly I charge at home where we rent. I’ve been fortunate that where I rent they’re understanding of my charging situation and accommodate by letting me charge mainly on the weekends over night. I’m thankful and I know it can be difficult otherwise for others with apartments. No driveways. No Level 2 charging. I’m curious as to how other New Yorkers with Tesla charge. If you’re one, please comment below!
Conclusion
It’s a wonderful car overall. Might be bumpy for some since I did notice that switching from my Honda. Hopefully some kind of upgrade will help with that but the kids love it. Husband loves it. All of us love it. Safety and investing in the future was our primary goal. I truly believe this will be our car for long term. There hasn’t been any maintenance costs as of yet. Mostly buying things such as pet liner, weather mats, seat covers for the car seats, armrest cover, little things for aesthetics, and such. I do also try to clean the car by hand myself. But might once a year get it detailed for maintenance. Let you all know how that goes.
It’s been 3 months since we took delivery of our Tesla Model Y Long Range. Living in New York City with an all electric vehicle has been interesting to say the least. I’ve gotten a lot of questions in terms of charging, how have I dealt with the cold weather, first impressions, and of course why a Tesla. All things I can answer now since owning our Tesla (who we named Baymax) for the past 3 months.
Why Tesla?
Electrics vehicle peaked my interested before I got my license. Previously I wasn’t a car person. Not one bit. But tech? Sure. Innovations? I’m curious. So seeing a car that I consider to be essentially somewhat of a phone on wheels; progress the way Tesla did, I did what I usually do and started researching. The safety scores, cleaner energy, and of course the charging network.
First Impressions
The configuration that was decided was white exterior with white interior, and seven seater long range. My husband and I went over the whole car with a checklist since there’s a chance of issues. Luckily the most we found was a seat issue that was recently fixed. Other than that the car was perfect! The white seats stand out so much and brighten the interior in a beautiful way. I was nervous to drive it since I knew about the regenerative braking. But it drove wonderfully. It felt sturdy and the acceleration makes you feel confident in handling to merge or make maneuvers needed. Ultimately it was a great ride all around. You could feel a bit more bumps on the road since we had a CR-V previously that handle bumps much better. But the ride is smooth besides that.
Charging in NYC
Well it’s complicated for the most part. It does mean going out of my way and adding an extra errand. And if I can I’ll charge in a 110 volt when I have permission since I rent where I live. 110 volt is very slow charge we get about 3-5 miles per hour. So it can take up to 24 hours to charge if I get it down to almost 50 percent battery. Unless I’m running errands near my job where I can go to a super charger 10 minutes away. There’s not much else you can do in terms of charge. Unless you own a home here. Have access to third party chargers. Have permission to get a faster charger installed. All that can be restricted or have expensive cost. (Parking garages have chargers. But you pay a parking fee AND charging fee.) It’s worked out so far where I only need to charge about once a week. I am still supercharging through my first 1000 miles free from a referral code I used when purchasing (the referral program stopped in October). Once I know how much it is to supercharge I’ll update to compare to gas prices.
White Seats!?
Yes even with two kids. I went with white seats. Their seats have seat protectors only because the leather seats and car seats leaving marks I wouldn’t be too happy about. We haven’t traveled far so eating in the car hasn’t been a thing for us. The kids don’t eat in the car. I do have/like to wipe down the seats every week on my side to keep the white bright and looking clean. I do see on the side where I get in some stress marks starting. Which I’m sure is normal for the most part. But I love the white. It actually resistant to most staining. And I don’t wear any dark jeans and tend to go for leggings or sweats these days. I’ll update once it’s an issue or any issues.
These are the main questions and things I’ve been asked or gotten. But I’ll make another post for accessories. After market things. And plans with this car. We do plan on road-tripping a bit. Not too far. Once things warm up. But stay tuned for that. Thank you everyone for the support and reading my blogs. Stay sweet!
Everlasting Sirua 