26,000 Miles In A Tesla Model 3 - Was It Worth The $50,000 Price Of Admission?

Interesting.

What are your thoughts on your Tesla? Do you feel it was worth the money, in your experience?

Wow! A positive review from INSIDEEVs, a Tesla fanboy site. Who would have expected that!
One of my favorite quotes is. " reportedly quality is much improved." Reported where? By whom? Not calculated into his cost per mile is that a model 3 is at least $20,000 more than a comparable ICE, such as the Maxda 3.

Sorry, but a BMW 3-series or Audi A4 is the benchmark car, not Mazda 3. You can't AB compare a car with 0-60 of 7 seconds with one that is 40% faster, not to mention have a 5-link suspension and inane tech. The Model 3 is also larger.

If you benchmark with other EVs, at 325 miles of "EPA" range it exceeds any car that has even been proposed by other companies. The only production car with more range is the Model S with 335 miles at double the price.

Okay, make it a Mazda 6. My point is still valid, although the Mazda has a nicer interior, can gain 360 miles of range is 5 minutes, is better built, better looking, cost less to insure. The only advantage the smug Teslarati keep stating is fast acceleration. BFD. The 3 is nowhere close to BMW or MB in the nuances of a luxery vehicle - oh and they make a profit.

I would like to point out you also correctly referred to tesla's "inane tech."

I'm not sure I would call it luxury, but the Model 3 is more comfortable to me than the 3-series or the A4. Aesthetics are debateable, I like the utilitarian clean look but a lot of people here don't. Two things are difficult to argue - it is without a doubt more fun to drive that other sedans of the same size in the premium class and they have an edge on feature/function (especially with constant OTA upgrades).

I know a lot of people with Model 3s of all variants - I myself have 2 - and none of them gives a shit whether the Model 3 is a luxury car, economy car or whatever. What they all have is an excellent EV that is worth every penny. Time to stop the nonsense comparison and look at the Model 3 for what it really is: a game changer EV.

There's some truth to that

EVs are expensive. The penalties of being an early adopter.

However, many cars are not luxurious, but command high price tags for different reasons. Fast cars or sports cars tend to not have quilted Merino leather and burl walnut wood trim, but they're expensive for a different reason. Same thing with heavy-duty work vehicles, or highly-capable off-road vehicles.

The question is, what does the Tesla bring to the table that can justify its price tag? For different people, the answer will vary, and for some it will be "nothing". But, we can't discount that it has something to offer.

Not sure the game has changed. As the aforementioned Kona and the soon to arrive Kia Soul EV demonstrate the EV version cost at least twice as much to produce. And there are real drawbacks to EV ownership, such as time to recharge, cold weather range, etc.

The myth of the $35K model 3 is as elusive as ever.

EVs with 200+ miles of range have only been around for 10 years, 6.5 if you don't include the Roadster. EVs with 200+ miles of range that cost less than $50k have been around for just 2 years. All that right now is because of Tesla. Owners love them for the most part, fun to drive with tons of cool features.