Those who know me well will know that I like to find very good deals on the Internet so I can get maximum enjoyment out of a meagre budget. In February 2020, when everything was still normal in Europe, I thought it was a good time to buy a car so I can still go grocery shopping, but away from other people. I had a budget of CHF2,000 with an extra CHF1,000 available for maintenance, insurance, and taxes. The car had to be full-size or better with 4 or more doors and 5 or more seats but could not be a family van. It had to be pre-inspected by the government and roadworthy for at least 12 months and needs to be German.
What I found was a 1998 BMW 528i in basic Business trim (i.e. no leather seats or CD changer, but with 10 speakers) with all the electronics you want, and none of the electronics that interfere with your driving. When I went for a test drive, the engine was buttery smooth, it was quiet, and there were no warning lights on. It had 5 doors, 5 seats, and a huge 3.0L straight-six – what more could I want? Its inspection has been passed just a few weeks prior with no issues, all it needed was an oil change and air in the tires. It even came with a full set of winter tires and a full-size spare wheel. The asking price was CHF1,900. I paid cash.
Days after I got the car, I brought it to a mechanic for an oil change, tire pressure adjustment, wheel alignment, and had it put on a jack to check for potential mechanical failures. A hungry 7 liters of fuel later, the bill was CHF445, which was not an unreasonable amount considering its age. A week later the bill for the tax and insurance came that amounted to CHF1,098 a year for basic insurance and CHF623 a year for tax. At this point, I already went about CHF1,000 over budget, but I already budgeted and extra CHF2,000 for overspending, so I was still in the clear.
Back in early March 2020, the situation in Europe was still quite relaxed, so I took the car out on trips to France and Germany. During the first 500km of my ownership, I realized that the huge German steel missile was hungrier on gas than I’d thought. Instead of driving like a maverick on the Autobahn, I cruised at a steady 120km/h while keeping the revs low. The result over the next 2,000km showed that it could do 11.6km/l of 95 petrol. Not bad for a massive car, but still quite a way to go to match the efficiency of more modern executive cars.
When I finally got stuck at home, I reflected on all this and thought: “what if I got a comparable used electric car, and made fuel and tax savings?” I looked up my options online and the only competitor I could find was the Tesla Model X 60D. Turns out, they don’t make too many base-model electric executive estate cars. The one major downside was the cost, being a 2016 model year car, it was much more expensive than an ancient BMW and was also out of warranty. It would cost twice what the BMW cost to do maintenance, especially when there’s a lot you can’t do yourself.
But let’s assume they both came for free and had all the features I wanted, namely 3-zone climate control (the Tesla only has two), split opening tailgate (which the Tesla does not have), a full size spare tire for frequent long trips (which can be bought and placed in front storage area for the Tesla at extra cost), fold-flat rear seats to make the boot at least 2 meters long for sleeping in, GPS (solved this in the BMW with a CHF10 phone holder), and good highway performance. Apart from that, they share 5 doors, 5 seats, a very large boot, and are both “luxury” large cars with a similar price when new, so let’s assume they’re functionally the same.
If we only take running costs into account, the Tesla, with over 500hp and 2 tons in curb weight, would cost more to insure at over CHF1,800 a year for the same level of protection, but saves on tax at just CHF266 a year. Annual checks for a Tesla cost about CHF400 more than the BMW. Even before I started driving the Tesla I would already be CHF800 short per year. Parking costs will be excluded from this exercise as it would cost me the same regardless of which car I purchased.
Then there’s the cost of driving the vehicle, namely, the cost per kilometer driven. With fuel prices at CHF1.4 a liter and an efficiency of 11.6km/l, the BMW costs CHF0.12/kmkm to run. The listed efficiency of the entry-level Model X is 5.3km/kWh, which translates into roughly 4.8km/kWh if we apply a 10% discount on the efficiency due to the mountainous nature of Swiss geography. After all, I am looking at how useful it will be to me as I live in hilly terrain, not its listed capabilities. With Superchargers costing CHF0.30 per kWh, this gives us a kilometer cost of CHF0.06/km. If both cars are driven 40,000km a year, then the BMW would cost CHF2,400 and the Tesla just CHF1,200. If we include the insurance, tax, and maintenance cost, the Tesla would come out with an advantage of CHF400 a year.
I mostly use the car on Saturdays, perhaps a run to a grocery store on a weekday evening or to see a friend on Sunday afternoon, but that only adds up to about 90km round trip, a Tesla would be more than comfortable doing that. However, when I do drive on Saturdays, I do an average of about 800km on a single round trip. I leave just after breakfast at 7am and expect to return home by 5pm to make dinner. With a 70-liter fuel tank, the BMW can manage over 800km before needing to fill up, thought let’s be honest, we’d start looking for a pump with about 100km left of range, so let’s say the “effective range” is about 750km before anxiety kicks in. On most trips, I’d only need to visit a pump once for about 5 minutes, perhaps a second time in the evening to make sure I have a full tank the next time I set off, but 10 minutes in a day is really negligible.
Now, I have a street parking permit for my residence zone so I can just park downstairs. The trouble is, there’s no charging at street parking. The Tesla has a listed range of 320km, but with the 10% terrain discount and a 4% deterioration factor (1% per year), you only get a range of 275km, and that’s with a full charge. Most people don’t wait until they have just 1km left to charge and most distances are not exactly 275km away, so let’s say I’m adventurous and lucky and get to charge every 250km. If I start off with a full charge I don’t have to stop until I’ve driven about 2 hours, from then on, I’ll need to stop every 120km (or every hour) for 20 minutes to charge at a supercharger to 50%, which is the most time-efficient way of charging. I’ll need to charge at 250, 370, 490, 610, and 730 km on my trip to make it to 800km – that’s 5 times.
Say I’m really good at planning and stop to have lunch for 20 minutes while I charge, that still leaves 4 charges, or 80 extra minutes, on my trip. If I want to start with a full battery for my next trip, I’ll need to make an extra 60-minute stop at the end of my trip to get it to full charge, which means I’ll be spending an extra 2 hours and 20 minutes. Let’s say I go out every other weekend for about 20 trips a year, that’s over 46 hours of my life wasted at superchargers a year to save CHF400 a year. How much are you willing to pay for an extra 2 days of paid leave?
Recently, I had also had an emergency situation where I had to drive back from holiday in Rome straight to Geneva in the same day. In the BMW, I managed to cruise the 1000-kilometer distance in just 9 hours, averaging a cool 111km/h including two stops for fuel and the toilet. I departed the hotel at 8am and arrived in Geneva at 5pm. If I was driving a Tesla, it would have needed stops at 250, 370, 490, 610, 730, 850, and 970 km – a total of 7 stops costing 20 minutes each. I don’t know about you, but I think 9 hours is faster than 12 hours and an average speed of 111km/h is faster than 83km/h in an aemergency. In the real world in 2020, you want to be able to rely on internal combustion engines.
