This is our journey to buy a full Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV).
When Tesla announced their Model 3 back in 2016, I was one of the first to place a $1,000 reservation for one. The promise was for an electric vehicle costing $35,000 USD. In the spring of 2018 when the first delivery to Canada happened, the price was $64,100 CAD for the Long Range Model 3. This is not the AWD version, and with the taxes it will exceed $70K. The on the road – all in – price from one of our neighbours exceeded $80K when his vehicle got delivered. Okay, at the time there was a $15K incentive from the government.
The final sticker shock was a bit of a surprise, and we were still probably not ready for a full electric vehicle at the time. We checked out the Nissan Leaf, the Hyundai Kona, and the Kia Niro. These were all in high demand with waiting lists exceeding a year. We waited for the Subaru Impreza Hybrid, which never made it to Ontario, and the availability in Quebec was spotty at best.
In a moment of pure coincidence, we got hold of a Toyota Prius Prime on October, 2019. This is our first Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). We decided on a PHEV to get our feet wet with EV tech but also mitigated our fear of range anxiety. We felt less stress with a hybrid, and the small plugin battery which offers a limited range of the 35 to 45km. This short range will make do for 90% of our trips, which are mainly grocery runs, errands, and trips to local restaurants. We thought this PHEV will be perfect for us.
The experience driving in EV mode with the Toyota has made gas station visits an extreme rarity. We are talking like two partial fill ups during 2020, and probably less than 10 fill ups to date (all partials), and we are on its fourth year driving the Toyota.
We love the PHEV experience so much that on July 27, 2021, we placed a reservation on a RAV4 Prime at Richmond Hill Toyota and were warned that the wait will be very long.
Hedging our bets, we later placed another reservation on a KIA EV6 at KIA Stouffville on September 2, 2022. We thought the EV6 would be in a similar price range of the RAV4 Prime. You can read more about our reservation experience here.
On March 7, 2023, I received a call from my contact at Richmond Hill Toyota and he told me he had a 2023 RAV4 Prime XSE available. The price was $66,073 CAD all in. In January, Tesla dropped their price on the Model Y Long Range AWD to $69,900 CAD (from $85,000). Since we already have a fossil car, a 2013 Subaru Impreza; and a PHEV, the 2020 Toyota Prius Prime, we decided to pull the trigger and reserved the Tesla Model Y on the same day. Below is the configuration and the price breakdown.
The $81K price tag is higher than the $66K of the RAV4, but I figured that I will probably not buy another car for a very long time. At my age, I minus will cease the waiting and enjoy what life remains. Assuming Tesla meet its commitment on delivery timeframes, we should be getting the car before July, fingers crossed!
I also pulled the trigger in getting the mobile charger, wall connector, and the All-Weather Interior Liners. As a matter of fact, the interior liners already arrived and the charge accessories have already been shipped. We will hit the ground running (or driving). In the meantime, we are back in the waiting game again. May the EV gods be kind to us.
I am already super addicted to YouTube channels that are sharing other people’s Tesla experiences. My wife and I are already quite excited and may even partake on a few road trips with the new purchase. Perhaps testing out the Supercharging network to Montreal, and then an across Canada trip from Toronto to Calgary and perhaps even to Vancouver. We will see.
I will update with another post when the car arrives!